History, Legend, Myth, and Curse
by RJ Hunt
Summary: Ever wonder why Ginny was the only girl born in the Weasley family in several generations? It all started about a thousand years ago... A stand alone background novella in the Ginny Weasley point of view series. Featuring her ancestors who lived during the time of the Founders and the one who cursed them all. Rating changed to M for final few chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Loosely follows the life of Henry the Young King and his wife Queen Margaret of Hungary and Croatia. All of the main characters (Prince Henry, Princess Margaret, Sir William Marshal, Lord Robert "Rob" FitzWilliam, and King Henry II) are real people in history who lived in the 1100's. This is my twist on the Weasley family origins and I consider this story to be a companion novella to the Ginny Weasley series I'm currently writing. Much of what happens in this story will be relevant to Ginny's story during the time Prisoner of Azkaban is set in HP canon.**

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter One: Sir William "Wyn" Marshal

"Wyn, are we really allowed to compete this time?" Prince Henry turned his big blue eyes upon his tutor, who last year had become a knight in his own right.

Wyn smiled at the young prince. "Your father says if you are old enough to wield a wand, you are old enough to wield a sword in combat," he replied. In his excitement, Henry missed the slight look of apprehension on Wyn's face.

At just sixteen years old, Wyn was charged with the well-being of the heir to the English throne. Now, a year later, his charges had expanded to include any of the royal family and wealthy noble boys who began to show signs of magic.

"You received your wand a full year younger than we are now," complained Prince Henry's cousin, Robert. "When do we get ours? Tomorrow? The next day? _After_ the tournament? When?"

Wyn rolled his eyes. Robert FitzWilliam often recounted to anyone who would listen that Prince Henry and himself were equally related to their shared great-grandfather, King Henry I. Though Prince Henry was through a legitimate line and Robert was not.

It was true though. Wyn Marshal had been whisked away to Ollivanders on his eleventh birthday and later studied magic at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had studied directly under the founders Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw along with various other alumni who came back to teach after learning their own fields more in depth.

Wyn had missed out on studying under Salazar Slytherin himself, who'd already left the school after falling out with the other founders. He nevertheless had been placed in the Serpent Master's House during the Sorting Ceremony. Sometimes Wyn wondered, if Slytherin had still been teaching, would he have nurtured Wyn's knack for turning charms into jinxes? It was the only thing he was truly naturally talented at. Professor Hufflepuff always gave Wyn a frown when he'd entertained his fellow classmates with trip jinxes and body-binds. Professor Ravenclaw acknowledged his creativity but subtly pushed him towards other areas of study, every one of which he excelled in after much effort in study. It was Professor Gryffindor though, who had really taken Wyn under his wing.

Knowing many students came from noble families, Professor Gryffindor spent much of his time outside the classroom teaching young nobles the art of swordsmanship and of being knightly. He did this for both boys and girls, and didn't limit the extracurricular to only the nobles, but invited any student who wished to learn to attend.

Wyn had soon become so proficient at both his studies and his swordsmanship that Professor Gryffindor honored him as his First Squire and Apparated him to a few tournaments during his last year at Hogwarts. When a royal call for a knight who was also skilled in magic came not long before graduation, Professor Gryffindor put Wyn's name forward as a candidate to tutor and protect the Crown Prince.

Robert broke the silence again when the roof tops and the turrets of the palace in London came into view, "I can see it! We'll go to straight to the Wizardry, right? I want to see the goblins in Gringotts and then visit Mr. Ollivander. I want a wand like you've got Wyn. I want it as soon as we get there."

Wyn groaned inwardly at Robert's customary incessant demands whenever their retinue approached another city where a tournament was being held. "You want a wand? Like this one?" Wyn pulled out his wand to show it to Robert, Prince Henry and the others looking on with interest. Wyn's wand was unusual in that it had a bend in it. It was more like a knobby shepherd's hook than a decorated stave like most of his classmates had possessed.

Robert's eyes grew very envious as they always did when Wyn pulled out his wand to make camp, light fires, or any other task normally done by servants. "Mr. Ollivander says the wand chooses the wizard you know, it might be that one doesn't choose you at all," said Wyn teasingly.

"I'll buy one anyway. Any wand can work for any wizard, that's what that wizard we stayed with in Paris said. He said a great wizard can make any wand do his bidding," said Robert triumphantly.

"Fancy yourself a great wizard then?" asked Wyn, "Did that wizard in Paris teach you any spells?"

"No. That's your job."

"You're right. It is." Wyn flicked his wand in Robert's direction and muttered an incantation.

Robert tried to dodge but Wyn's aim was true. When Robert tried to tell him off for using magic on him no sound escaped his lips.

"That is a variation of the Freezing Charm," Wyn said in a mock instructional tone to Prince Henry and the rest of the boys. "I froze his voice so that he is still able to breathe and move but no sound can be uttered."

Prince Henry looked admonishingly at his cousin Robert, "I'm excited too Rob, but being pleasant gets you much farther along with people than being rude." Robert looked daggers at Wyn who had stopped the retinue for the day now that London was within sight. Robert dismounted from his dapple gray and stalked away to begin setting up his own tent, without the aid of Wyn's magic.

Prince Henry trotted his horse next to Wyn's, who was now approaching the pack horses the retinue ponied, "I know Robert was being obtuse," he began, and then he looked Wyn directly in the eye, "but I would like to see his voice restored before nightfall."

It caught Wyn off guard every time the Prince used that tone of voice and mannerism. Henry was usually very genial and one could easily forget he was the Heir. "I understand, Your Highness." Prince Henry stayed for only a moment longer, and then his usual easy smile returned just before he turned his bay mare towards the grassy meadow where she could forage for the night with the rest of the horses.

Robert may have earned his way into their retinue by displaying magic at a young age, but it was his friendship with Prince Henry that kept him around. If Wyn had had it his way, Robert would have been shipped off to Hogwarts months ago.

Unfortunately, if Robert went to Hogwarts, Prince Henry would demand to go as well, and the King did not want his Heir to attend a "magic school" outside of his own country and so demanded Prince Henry have an appropriate royal tutor who was also knowledgeable in magic. To keep the Crown Prince company, the King ordered any boys of the members of court who also showed signs of magic to also become part of the retinue. Robert was petulant to be sure, but he was the Prince's best friend and closest ally.

The next day Wyn woke them at dawn and they prepared to enter London. It was the first time the retinue had returned since their initial departure weeks after the King first found out his Heir was born with the gift of magic.

It was customary to send high born children with the gift away from the public eye and rarely was it the eldest son who was gifted. There was always rumors that there had been magic users born into the King's family in generations past, but they had never ascended the throne and the line of succession had never been in question. The King never thought much of it and Prince Henry had been named his successor long before that fateful day the boy had saved his new hunting dog he'd received for his eleventh name day from a fall down a steep cliff.

Now it was too late to change the line of succession. The King did the only thing he could think of short notice: send the boy away. Keep him moving, have him spend very little time in one place, and hopefully no one will realize what he is capable of. Sir "Wyn" Marshal participated in tournaments alone initially with the boys in the retinue serving as squires and posing as servants or scribes.

Wyn looked around and made sure they didn't leave anything behind and then rode to the front where the Prince was waiting. So far the plan was working well. The boys were a boisterous bunch, but there had been no slips, no magical incidents, nothing to cover up. Wyn made sure to instruct them in swordsmanship in the mornings and evenings and the constant traveling from tournament to tournament kept them physically and mentally exhausted.

All of that was about to change though. Now that the first year of the tour was over, the boys were going to get their wands and they were to begin formal training in wizardry. Wyn's workload was going to double and Merlin knows how many fold the chances of an incident were going to increase.

They neared the gates to the city by mid-morning and with the Crown Prince in tow, their retinue was bumped to the front of the line. Wyn gave them the necessary papers but there was almost no need as there was already a welcoming delegation waiting for them.

After the necessary formalities, Prince Henry looked at Wyn with hopeful eyes. Wyn sighed, "Yes, we're going straight to the Wizardry."

The Wizardry was the small section of every major city that catered directly to witches and wizards. They were usually in small, unobtrusive streets away from the main hustle and bustle but still close enough to be within walking distance of the city center. Though they were welcome, Muggles weren't usually found near the Wizardry as many of them either didn't believe in magic and didn't want to associate with those who did, or they did believe and wanted nothing to do with magic users period. The Muggles who did do business in the Wizardry however, usually made quite the profit.

Wyn made arrangements with the stables and the retinue dropped off their horses. Then they all took in the wonders around them as they made their way to what was easily the largest building within the Wizardry, Gringotts.

Even Robert stared quietly at the goblins who were casually counting more gold and precious stones than he'd ever seen in once place. Once again Wyn presented the appropriate paperwork and received wizard coins in the names of each of the boys in the retinue. Then they were off to the one place Prince Henry and Robert talked about most of all during the quiet nights at camp: Ollivanders.

The Ollivanders were one of the oldest wizarding families in all of the known great island and possibly in all of Europe. They proudly boasted their wand making talents for the past, at least, seven hundred years. If the King was going to have a wizard for a son and Heir, he was going to make sure that his son and Heir got the best wizarding tools available and even he had heard of the Ollivander family.

The King insisted on paying for the wands for all of the boys in the retinue. Their excitement was building, and even Wyn was starting to feel excited himself for them and at the same time, the time he dreaded most was coming. Wyn had no idea how he was going to keep the boys from having accidents in front of Muggles now that they were going to be armed with wands. For the sake of Prince Henry however, he kept a smile on his face and his spirits up.

Prince Henry and Robert went into the little wand shop first. Robert came out minutes later, new wand in hand, smug smile stretching broadly across his face. "See, Wyn? A wand picked me after all!"

Wyn shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Where's Prince Henry?"

"He's still in there, Mr. Ollivander asked to send in the next boy while Henry tries the stack in front of him."

One by one the other boys went in and came out and still no Prince Henry. Wyn began to peek inside to make sure the Prince was okay every time the door opened. Finally, Prince Henry was the last. Wyn put Robert in charge of the retinue waiting outside and entered the wand shop. It was bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside, though that could be magic mused Wyn.

"Is everything all right?" Wyn asked to both the Prince and to Mr. Ollivander.

The Prince's face looked frustrated, and it was Mr. Ollivander who answered, "We have gone through every domestic wand here and we are now trying the exotics," he said simply.

"Exotics?" asked Wyn. This was news to him, he didn't know much about wand lore, but he knew it was a core from a magical animal inserted into a thin tree branch.

"These wand woods come from distant lands, some of the lands not even known to Muggles yet. Many of their cores are from magical creatures I've only seen once, while collecting the core!" Mr. Ollivander seemed quite excited.

"Shouldn't the Crown Prince have a wand from his own land? The land he's the future king of?" asked Wyn worriedly. He didn't want to explain this to the King.

"The wand chooses the wizard, that much we know," was Mr. Ollivander's only reply.

Then it happened, Prince Henry picked up a wand and immediately a plume of red and gold sparks shot out of it. The Prince's face lit up and he cried out in delight. Robert, who had been listening at the door yelled in celebration as well and Wyn could hear the uproar from outside.

"Redwood, 10¼ inches, sturdy, and the core is a forelock hair from a hippocampus," said Mr. Ollivander in a near whisper. "The wood naturally contains no flammable pitch or resin and traditionally redwood wands imbue similar fire-proofing protection for its owner."

"The core is from a sea-creature?" asked Wyn skeptically. He didn't know anyone at Hogwarts with a wand core from a sea-creature.

"Redwoods are coastal trees," was the only answer Wyn received, but he noticed Mr. Ollivander had a searching look on his face while his gaze darted back and forth between the wand and Prince Henry.

"Is there something else?" Wyn pushed.

Mr. Ollivander tore his gaze from the Prince and his new wand, "Redwood wands are coveted for the good fortune they bring their owners. However, it is the wand that is most often attracted to an owner with an uncanny ability to always land on their feet in the face of catastrophe." He took a step closer to Wyn and out of earshot of the Prince as he whispered, "I fear Prince Henry may have more than his fair share…." with a meaningful look at Wyn he let his words trail off.

Wyn didn't like where Mr. Ollivander's thoughts seemed to be headed and quickly herded the Prince and the rest of the boys out of the Wizardry after paying for the wands.

Trying to change his train of thought, Wyn asked Prince Henry, "Are you excited to see your family again?"

Before the Prince could reply Robert interrupted, "I bet he's excited to see his wife!" This was met with many snickers from the rest of the boys in the retinue.

In an effort to seize early control of certain disputed castles, the King had Prince Henry marry his betrothed at the very tender age of five. She had only been two at the time and then she had been whisked away to live quietly away from court.

The other boys, still awaiting matches to be made for them, used this as a great source of torture for Prince Henry as boys do, often resulting in inappropriate jeering. Usually Prince Henry let their taunting go and ignored it with only the smallest amount of annoyance.

It appeared though, that Prince Henry had had quite enough of their banter. He stopped the retinue on their way to the castle, "I don't believe it's proper to speak in such a way about Princess Margaret, your future queen." All the boys, even Robert, looked down in shame. Not once had Prince Henry addressed them like this all at the same time before, certainly not in any sort of rebuking manner.

For the second time in as many days, the Prince used his serious voice and rank to command the attention of his future subjects. It was apparent to Wyn, that the Prince was just as nervous about seeing his family again as Wyn was about reporting to them.


	2. Chapter 2

History Legend Myth and Curse

Chapter Two: Princess Margaret

In her room, Princess Margaret was re-reading a letter she had received a few days late for her ninth name day. Her mother, the Queen of France wrote to her, telling her about her older sisters and the wonderful things that seemed to happening at court in France.

France.

The letter mentioned several family celebrations, French holiday celebrations, all things she would never take part in. She'd left France when she was two to meet her betrothed and live with his family as a ward. Unbeknownst to her, she was married soon after and now lives in her own keep away from English court. Instead of a betrothed ward, she was elevated to part of the English royal family, married to the heir. She couldn't remember anything about France. She couldn't remember the face of the mother who wrote her letters, she only knew her sisters and father by name, she couldn't remember the castle she was born in.

Often she felt trapped between two worlds, and that she didn't really belong in either. She'd been gone from France for so long, since she was so young that her mother country felt like a foreign place to her and yet she would never really be accepted as English. She loved visiting English Court to be around other noble girls her age, and to just see new people in general, but it always felt like an exhausting vacation. Most of the time she couldn't wait to get back to her private keep after a few weeks, the only place where she felt she was around people who truly cared about her, even if they saw her as a boss instead of family. They at least understood her as an individual.

Not that life in her personal keep was anything to brag about. The majority of days, she had few peers to talk to, the girls her age were children of servants and servants themselves in her keep. During her precious free time if they weren't working they could be fun to play games with, but usually the monotony of life at her keep was lonely. With only her governess and instructors to talk to on a regular basis she became adept at conversing with them about worldly affairs and about their own studies in the field of their tutorage.

At nine Princess Margaret could speak both English and French fluently, though her French was with an English accent these days. She was diligently working on her Latin and felt very confident with it, though she was told that few of her peers would also be able to read and write it. She knew full well that the King's daughters weren't picking it up.

She glanced down at her letter once more before carefully folding it up and placing it in the secret pocket of her dress. She wanted to take the letter with her to London for Prince Henry's arrival. Something of her own to treasure while in the King's Palace.

Prince Henry was travelling with Sir William Marshal, around the country and Europe from tournament to tournament. The Prince was squiring for the knight and learning about foreign politics with some other boys in his retinue. It was a strange way for the King to train his successor, but she was still learning English ways. The tournament in London was their next stop, it coincided with the beginning of spring and since the Prince was coming home for a few weeks, the Princess was expected to be there to show her support.

Princess Margaret was excited she was going to witness Prince Henry's first tournament. Of course, his first tournament was in London for the King to watch. It was simply for appearances that she was to attend as well, but she didn't let that diminish her excitement. He was going to participate against other boys in his age range sure, but nevertheless it was the first time he was allowed to compete.

She didn't really know Prince Henry very well. He grew up in his father's palace while she in her keep, but what she did remember of him whenever they were able to interact was always pleasant. He alone made her always feel completely welcome in his family. He alone stood up for her whenever other children were rude and adults weren't right on hand. Prince Henry alone seemed genuinely concerned with her comfort while she was in his father's palace. He was legally her family through marriage, but personally he was the closest thing to family she felt like she had here in England.

For this reason, she was proud to show her support for him. Finally, she would have something of substance and family-like to write back to her mother about.

Her new hand-maiden assigned by the King came into to her rooms, announcing that the carriage to take her from her keep to London had arrived. Prince Henry would be arriving in London later that evening and she was to attend the Homecoming feast at the Palace for his retinue. She rose to follow her new hand-maiden.

The King sent new hand-maidens every six months like clockwork. She had new instructors every two years, and most of the household servants were on a rotation between her keep and the palace every few months. The only constant in her life was her governess, a formidable woman with high expectations who wrote weekly update letters to the King about the Princess's academics, her charity appearances, and guest outings. The governess reported everything. She even read the Princess's letters from her family before she received them.

Princess Margaret didn't hate her governess, rather she found it annoying when the woman refused interruption while writing the weekly update, but this was her way of life. The King must know all.

She went through the motions of being announced at court. She stood before King Henry II and his queen, a duchess in her own right also from France, and they greeted each other cordially in the scripted fashion they all used each time she came to the palace.

She was shown to her usual rooms she used when she stayed there. They were adjacent to Prince Henry's though she rarely saw him use his. He always stayed up later than her when they were at the palace together and always rose before she did to start another adventurous day.

Finally, her hand-maiden came to her room to escort her to the Homecoming Feast. During the motions of being introduced upon entering the hall, she concentrated hard on maintaining a formal posture and expression like her governess taught her. She made it to her seat at the high table without incident though she felt the King's eyes following her. Accustomed to his scrutiny, she pretended he wasn't watching like she did with everyone else and took her seat graciously with an easy smile on her face. She wanted nothing to be amiss in her governess's report during her stay in the palace.

The Prince's younger siblings were already seated as well. Matilda, and Richard were older than she, Geoffrey was born her same year, and Eleanor, Joan, and John were all younger than herself. It seemed they were only waiting on the guest of honor, the Crown Prince himself and his retinue. Princess Margaret didn't have to wait long. His retinue began to be announced soon after she had been seated and the first through the door was Sir William Marshal, the Prince's tutor.

He was younger than the Princess thought he was going to be, and he seemed uneasy when he first stepped into the feast hall. But he was shown his spot and to the Princess's surprise it was nearly directly across from her own. The other boys of the retinue were introduced, then Robert, future Earl of Gloucester and the Prince's closest friend from childhood.

Finally, with quite a bit of pomp and celebratory music, the Crown Prince Henry was announced. He walked through the door and paused with a wide grin across his face. He knew how much he was already loved by his future subjects and did not hesitate to absorb their affections. He travelled straight to his father, the King, and bowed deeply in respect.

The King stood and made a short speech, "For the first time, in a little less than a year, my family, is whole again!" He spoke in short bursts, even when he addressed you in person to make sure you were clear on every enunciation. "Prince Henry has returned, from his first year of touring our countryside, and those of our allies! Now, I have the great pleasure, of announcing to all of you, that tomorrow, he will compete, in London's Spring Tournament! Welcome home, son!"

A round of applause went around the Feast Hall. The Prince gave the King one last bow and then he happily trounced to his seat, right next to Princess Margaret and across from Sir William Marshal. It seemed his tutor wasn't to be very far from the Prince, much like the governess was only a few seats away from the Princess.

Up close, the Princess noticed that the Prince had matured some since she'd last seen him almost a year ago. Spending much of his time outside travelling, his skin was somewhat weathered making his normally pronounced freckles more subdued and natural looking. His hair, normally a brilliant deep red was sun-streaked now with gold highlights running throughout it. It had a tousled look to it that showed how unkempt he allowed it while travelling and was longer than was fashionable.

After the feast officially commenced, Prince Henry relaxed back in his chair, ignoring the perfect posture of everyone around him and his cousin Robert immediately copied him. He turned his shining blue eyes towards Princess Margaret and smiled on one side of his mouth and nodded his head in a slight bow in her direction while maintaining eye contact, "My Princess."

Princess Margaret gave a slow smile back in spite of herself. He hadn't called her that since they were little, back when Prince Henry told some rude children they weren't allowed to bother her because he was the Heir and she was _his_ Princess. "My Prince," she greeted him back in the same mocking tone he used for their inside joke.

Sir William Marshal broke the spell. "Sit up, both of you. We're in the palace not at a campfire." He turned and glared at Robert on his right side who grudgingly straightened up and then flicked his gaze at Prince Henry.

Prince Henry locked eyes with the young knight and then let out a small breath and nodded to him in respect before resuming a proper royal posture for the feast. "I suppose; it was a rather poor reflection of your tutoring." He didn't apologize, but royalty never does. All the same, the Prince put his regular easy smile back on before looking away from his tutor.

Princess Margaret was amazed. Never had she seen Prince Henry regard any of his tutors, or anyone for that matter, as a superior, let alone equal. Except for his mother and father of course. As she had witnessed during the feast introductions he respected his father for his position only, but she knew he adored his mother. This Sir William Marshal must have somehow proven his worth during their time travelling, and the Princess was curious to learn how he accomplished such a feat.

The feast carried on, the adults becoming louder and louder as they drank more and more of the King's wine. Most of the boys of the retinue however, drank in moderation. Only one of them overindulged. The Prince's cousin Robert seemed unable to sip from his cup and instead drank deeply each time he raised the goblet to his lips. Sir Marshal attempted to quietly stop him with words, but Robert was so far gone that even words from the Prince didn't prevent him from being unbecoming.

Finally, it was the strange request that Robert asked of Sir Marshall which made each of the boys in the retinue freeze with looks of apprehension on each of their faces. "Wyn! You need to loosen up, what are the words to make a man laugh?"

A look of anger crossed Sir Marshal's features and a quick pleading glance at Prince Henry who gave a nod of approval of some sort was the only thing that turned that anger into determination. Then after a quick glance around at the people around them, Sir Marshal raised an eyebrow and gave the slightest nod in Princess Margaret's direction. She realized, outside of the boys in the retinue, she was the only one who'd heard Robert's strange request.

Prince Henry, turned his brilliant blue eyes and extra winning smile that stretched across his whole face in the Princess's direction, "Princess Margaret?"

She tore her gaze away from the drunken Robert to politely look the Prince in the face.

"Would you be interested in walking in the gardens with me after my father retires from the feast?" he asked her hastily. She couldn't discern what it was exactly, but the features on the Prince's face weren't as relaxed as usual, try as he might to make them so. His blue eyes were piercing and seemed to be drilling into her own, as though he didn't want her gaze to be anywhere but precisely where he had it focused at the moment.

The Princess could tell something was amiss, but years of training in polite conversation won, "Yes, that would be lovely."

A look of relief crossed his features just before the two of them heard a thump from where Robert was seated. Princess Margaret was startled and swung her gaze back in Robert's direction. He was no longer drunk and boisterous, instead he was slumped over the table in front of him.

The Prince's easy smile returned instantly, though it seemed a little strained in embarrassment for his friend. He loudly addressed all the heads that turned in Robert's direction who also had heard the thump, "That is why he isn't allowed strong wine during the tournaments!" The crowd laughed light-heartedly and the Prince signaled for two servants to come help Robert to his rooms.

Sir Marshal gave them some instructions about positioning him on his bed and when he sat down Prince Henry whispered across the table, "Wyn, is he going to be alright?"

Princess Margaret thought Prince Henry seemed pretty worried about a common pass out from too much alcohol, perhaps Robert had an intolerance of some sort and became ill sometimes?

Sir Marshal nodded his head in an exhausted sort of way, "Yes, he'll sleep both off just fine," he whispered back.

Both? Wondered the Princess.

All of the boys in the retinue, including the Prince strangely began to act as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. As though, none of them had looked panic-stricken only a few moments ago. The Princess was about to ask why Robert's request was so odd, when the Prince changed the subject.

"Have you seen the new additions to the gardens yet? I asked you to walk with me, but perhaps you could give me a tour instead?"

Princess Margaret furled her eyebrows at the deliberate subject change, but decided to play along. "No, I haven't. I suppose we'll have to explore it together."

The Prince's face broke into a genuine smile again, "I suppose."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I have updated the rating on this prequel novella to M for future chapters now that the ending is mapped. The following chapter however, is still T.**

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter Three: Princess Margaret

Princess Margaret had never seen anyone pass out before, not with her quiet life at her keep. However, the way the Prince and Sir Marshal had acted with deception kept it at the forefront of her mind throughout the rest of the night.

The remainder of the feast passed fairly uneventfully. A few other nobles inquired about the Prince's cousin Robert and the Princess listened discreetly to the replies they were given but the platitudes from the Prince or Sir Marshal were always the same: Robert was excited and took too much wine and passed out at the table.

Finally, the King took his leave to attend to the affairs of the state with his advisors. Prince Henry took a few moments to visit with his mother, Queen Eleanor, and his younger siblings then he walked back to Princess Margaret and reached for her hand to guide her up from the table.

"Where do you think you are going?" It was the voice of her formidable governess.

Princess Margaret turned around, her face falling. It wasn't late exactly, and she was within the safety of the castle. "Prince Henry invited me to walk in the new Palace Gardens with him. Neither of us have seen them yet."

"Your Highness, you cannot wander off with a boy by yourself. It isn't done. I cannot allow it. It's my job to protect …you." The Princess knew very well what it was the governess was supposed to "protect," she had been harped on about it her whole life just like every other royal and noble girl in history. Her virtue.

"We're only walking to the gardens…" began Princess Margaret, but Prince Henry interrupted.

"Ma'am, if the Princess were my betrothed I would defer to your beseeching. However, the Princess is not my betrothed, she is my wife," said Prince Henry. A flash of smiles went around the other boys in the Prince's retinue before they were quickly stifled.

Princess Margaret narrowed her eyes at them.

"As for protecting …her. That job is only required when I am absent, and today, I am very much present. After all, if she isn't secure in _my_ presence, then she isn't secure in anyone's." Prince Henry took Princess Margaret's arm and started to lead her away.

"I have to report this to the King!" bellowed the governess, breathing heavily in frustration.

Prince Henry turned around, "As is your duty, Ma'am." He gave her a slight dismissive nod, and the governess realizing she'd lost gave a curt curtsy and hastily departed. No doubt to inform the King of Princess Margaret's desisting of what was expected of her.

Prince Henry continued leading the Princess towards the royal gardens, he seemed to be a million miles away with his thoughts though. As they approached the edge of the garden he reached right out and softly said, "Walls."

Guessing his thoughts Princess Margaret asked, "Do you miss traveling the countryside already?"

"Every time I arrive in a new city." He looked so far away, and then all at once the entirety of his attention was on her when he eagerly turned to look at her again. "Do you ever just want to, turn away from the politics of being royal and just go somewhere where it doesn't matter who you are? But what you are capable of? Somewhere, fantastical? Magical even?"

Princess Margaret was completely thrown by his question. His excitement was contagious and she couldn't help mirroring his grin at first, until she realized that she couldn't imagine such a place. All she'd ever known was her keep, and her studies.

"We, have our lives planned already."

The Prince's face fell, but only a little.

"Yes, but say we were King and Queen now, not years from now. What would be your heart's desire? If you could have anything? Go anywhere?"

No one had ever asked Princess Margaret a question like that before, she quickly cast her mind around and it settled on the letter still residing within the hidden pocket of her dress.

"If I could have anything in whole world," she paused and she revealed the secret pocket and the letter inside, "I would choose to always have my family together. Always. Especially my daughters."

"Really?" Prince Henry held out his hand, and Princess Margaret solemnly placed the letter in it.

After a few moments of skimming the letter, Prince Henry spoke, "Your mother speaks quite a bit about the family visiting places together, and playing annual games in the castle together, and what they have been doing for each other for birthdays and holidays."

While he spoke Princess Margaret cast her gaze to the ground. Then remembered her training, took a deep breath, and lifted her chin again to look the Prince in the eye.

"These are all things you would have been a part of if you weren't living here, in England," said Prince Henry.

"I'm not insulting your family," Princess Margaret replied in a near whisper. "I don't even remember what they look like and all of their customs she goes on about feel foreign to me. Besides, as my governess frequently pointed out when I was younger, you are my family now."

Prince Henry smiled his genuine half smile again, all the far away sorrow when he was looking at the garden walls gone from his eyes without a trace. "I am your family, now and forever. And once you are Queen and I am King, no one will be allowed to say you aren't English."

Princess Margaret smiled. She knew the Prince was famous for his 'When I am King' declarations. "What about yourself? If you could have your heart's desire right now, what would it be?"

Prince Henry looked thoughtful for a moment, "Can I share a secret with you?"

Princess Margaret nodded conspiratorially.

"I would go somewhere magical, somewhere where you could learn magic and how to be a knight and, and, and, somewhere where your life is what you make it. Not what has already been laid out for you."

Princess Margaret thought about being royal and the hierarchy of nobles and tradesmen. "Such a place doesn't exist in the known world."

"But if it did?" the Prince's eyes seemed to be imploring the Princess to give the right answer.

"I suppose I would like to visit a world like that," she said.

"I would stay always," replied the Prince off handedly.

"Then I suppose I would stay always too. With you." That made Prince Henry break into a grin yet again.

"Come, let us walk in the gardens, I'm sure your governess will quiz you about every plant within just to make sure that's what you were doing!"

Princess Margaret let a real laugh escape her lips as they walked into the rows and rows of carefully cultured royal gardens.

Prince Henry told her all sorts of tales of the past year. He told her of the time he and his cousin Robert accidently un-corralled all of the horses that the retinue used, but that Wyn was able to round them up pretty quickly. He told her of another time when there had been a large gust of wind that blew some embers from the fire onto their tent while most everyone was asleep, but Wyn managed to put the fire out before anyone was hurt. Another time, six large men tried to raid the camp for valuables but Wyn managed to subdue every one of them in almost no time at all.

Princess Margaret interrupted, "Why do you call him Wyn?"

Prince Henry looked thoughtful for a moment. "I suppose it must come from his middle name, as the story I heard couldn't possibly be true. Some of the men from a tournament told the boys and I in the retinue that it was a nick name. 'Wyn doesn't lose.' When he competes you see?"

"Have you ever seen him lose?" asked Princess Margaret.

"Not once in anything I've seen him compete in. He told us that he was trained by the greatest knight he's ever met, a man named Godric Gryffindor."

"Is that an English name? Gryffindor?"

"I don't know, but I do know that Wyn was trained in Scotland. That's where I wish I could be trained, but my father would never allow it. Instead he demands Wyn train me here."

"Well it sounds as though Wyn is very capable. You admire and defer to him, like I've never seen you defer to anyone else not even your father."

"I recognize when someone is worth learning from."

"And how he handled Robert tonight. Did he give him a sleeping potion?"

Prince Henry stopped dead, "What makes you say that?"

"Sir Marshal said, 'He'll sleep both off just fine.' "

"I didn't catch that, I suppose."

Sensing the Prince was looking for a subject change, Princess Margaret changed directions. "How do so many of you travel together so quickly? There's what, fifteen of you?"

"It took ages for us to become proper travelers!" laughed Prince Henry. "But we figured it out, plus Wyn is an expert camper. He can set up and tear down camp in the blink of eye."

"There's going to be fewer of us in the retinue after this tournament though," said Prince Henry. "I sent a letter to this Godric Gryffindor asking if there was room at his training facility for the boys in my retinue who had Scottish blood and living family in Scotland who would be safe there. He's going to be at the tournament tomorrow. It's going to be a surprise for Wyn and the boys." The faraway look clouded his eyes again, "I'm sure most will take their leave and go."

"Those loyal to you will stay," Princess Margaret placed her hand on the inside of the Prince's elbow, "I'm sure of it." She remembered the way they were snickering when her governess brought up protecting her virtue, "Besides, most of them don't seem very mature. A school environment could be good for them."

Prince Henry furled his eyebrows for a moment. "You mean when your governess was talking about protecting …you?"

Princess Margaret nodded.

"I put a stop to that, that was just a small display compared to how they normally act. They weren't making fun of you, they were making fun of me." Princess Margaret eyed his suspiciously. "Because I've been married, for years now, and I've never even kissed a girl."

"We don't have to…" started Princess Margaret.

"I mean, _any_ girl."

Princess Margaret felt the first stirrings of jealousy well up and it must have shown on her face.

Prince Henry tried to placate her, "The world of men, it's just …different. There are expectations."

"But, _you're_ married," said Princess Margaret.

"And they argue that we're not consummated," said the Prince.

Princess Margaret took an immediate step back. This was not a conversation she was prepared for. Yet on the other hand, the thought of the inevitability of other girls vying for the Prince's affections while he was on tour enraged her. In all of her living memory she was his Princess, and he was _her_ Prince.

Distressed that the Princess felt the need to put space between them Prince Henry tried to console her, "I would never force you into anything you weren't ready for…"

"I can compromise," she interrupted.

That gave the Prince pause. "What? What do you mean?"

"I'll let you kiss me."

The tension that hung between them could have been cut with a knife. The Princess felt every fiber of her being electrified. She could feel every hammer of her heart beating. All at once she became hyper aware of every shift the Prince made. He appeared to be weighing his options, and took quite a bit of time doing so.

And then a thought crossed her mind, "Don't you _want_ to kiss me?"

Prince Henry seemed at a loss for words, "I've never thought about it. Have you been thinking about kissing me?"

Now it was Princess Margaret's turn to be at a loss, "Well, no."

"Then why are we talking about this?"

This she had an answer for, "I don't know when I'm going to see you again, and I don't want your first kiss to be with some random girl at one of your tournaments!" She could feel her face growing hot and she felt way out of her comfort zone. She didn't know how Prince Henry was going to react to that statement, around everyone else in his family she wasn't allowed to voice what she wanted.

But Prince Henry broke into a small smile, "Are you …jealous?"

Inwardly, Princess Margaret rebelled against the idea, but her words betrayed her, "You're _my_ Prince, _my_ husband."

Prince Henry stepped closer, he delicately put his hands on her shoulders then brought them together to cup her face. She didn't know what to expect but all of her nervousness dropped away, she tilted her head up to meet his but instead of some wondrous moment all she felt was pain. It was as though they didn't have lips at all and they had bumped their teeth together instead.

Both of them reeled back to hold their mouths.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea," said Prince Henry. He started to back away from her then he turned when he heard the sounds of other people coming into the garden. "That'll be our guards, making sure we're 'okay' out here and then to tell us it's late and time to go back to the castle," he said sullenly.

Princess Margaret felt defeated, for the first time in her young life she'd acted on passion instead of rational thinking and it drove the Prince farther away. After feeling like she'd gained so much during this evening, she couldn't let it all go to waste. It was now or never.

This time instead of letting herself be approachable, she threw caution completely to the wind and stepped in front of Prince Henry. This time she had his face in her hands. This time she brought her face to his and this time she, gently, crushed her lips on his.

Once again, the nerves fell away and in that moment it was only the two of them in the whole world. She didn't know what to expect or what was expected of her during a kiss but she gave it her all. She poured all of her loneliness from missing her family into the kiss, all of her hopes for the future, all of her trust in Prince Henry. She wanted him to have all of it.

Surprise lasted only for a moment, but Prince Henry almost immediately gave way to acceptance. He put his arms around her protectively and readily took everything she was offering in the kiss.

After a time when she had given everything she had, she pulled away. They both took a moment to catch their breath and then Prince Henry pulled her close into a hug and he kissed her on the forehead. He didn't say anything until they could hear the guards getting closer. Then he whispered, "We have to go."

He stepped back and smiled at Princess Margaret, then he held out his arm politely so she could take it and they began to make their way back to the front of the gardens to intercept the guards on their way.

"Your Highnesses, we're to escort you back to the palace."

"Excellent, I need to speak to Wyn. Please take Princess Margaret back to her rooms."

Reluctantly Princess Margaret released Prince Henry's arm as normally as she would have at any other time of her life previously and without a word followed the guards all the way back to her rooms. She was quite giddy and she wanted the comfort of being alone in her room to celebrate her small victory.

Unfortunately, there was already someone in her room waiting for her.

"You are only NINE years old!" hollered her governess. "You are a CHILD, and you've been doing who knows what with him! Don't deny it, I can see it on your face!"

"We only kissed!"

"He's leaving again! He's going to be kissing lots of girls! That's how his family is!"

"I know," said the Princess quietly. "That's why I kissed him."

"Wanted to get to him first yourself, did you? Thought that maybe if you got to him first there wouldn't be any others?"

Princess Margaret looked her governess in the eye while breathing deeply. She didn't want to admit that no she didn't think there wouldn't be any others, but the governess seemed to take her silence as being right.

"After this tournament is over, do you even know when you'll see him again?"

"I wanted my husband's first kiss to be with his wife, and I succeeded."

"You stupid girl! The moment he gets the next girl's affections, and he's a prince he will, he will forget all about you. Especially now that he has experience and confidence, and that is your naïve doing. Remember that."

The governess abruptly left and Princess Margaret released herself from her proper royal posture and she slumped to a sitting position on the floor. She wanted to cry, she wanted someone to come and to tell her that she was going to be okay. She wanted to throw herself on the rug and sob.

But she stood back up and dried the wetness from her eyes that she didn't let spill over. She regally called her handmaidens into her room and told them to prepare her for bed. She made them do everything, remove her dress, brush her hair, turn down her blankets, fetch water for her bedside, and stoke the fire so that it would burn all night.

She was tired of playing perfect child so that maybe the governess would treat her normally. If that woman insisted on telling her that everything she did was wrong, then she was going to play the part of Princess and keep the governess and her handmaidens so busy that they'll be glad to be rid of her.


	4. Chapter 4

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter Four: Prince Henry

The following morning, Prince Henry still didn't know what to make of Princess Margaret's outburst the night before. Brushing it off, he supposed she was right. If already married, a husband's first kiss ought to be with his wife.

He also couldn't explain it but a foreign feeling of being incredibly happy for no reason was upon him from the moment he awoke. The past couple of days he knew he had been less than enjoyable company with Wyn and the rest of the boys of his retinue. He knew that it had to do with nerves of his first tournament which would also be the first tournament his father was going to attend.

Today however, all of those negative feelings were completely evaporated. He felt confident, upbeat, and dauntless. He had studied swordsmanship since he could pick up a stick and had been training day and night against the other boys, some older than himself, under Wyn's tutelage.

He smiled when he thought back to the story he told Princess Margaret, 'Wyn never loses'. It was true, since entering tournaments Wyn had made quite a bit of money winning and a great name for himself all around England and France. Logically, if Wyn never loses, that meant he was the best to train under.

There was only one flaw in today's tournament and that was he and the rest of the retinue had to breakfast with his father beforehand. Even before Henry found out he was a wizard, his father often alienated him with his coarse attitude and boastful nature. How many more times would Henry have to hear that in a couple of more years he would be the age his father was when he went to war trying to put his mother on the throne of England?

His grandmother Matilda never did rule, but his father inherited the throne anyway after her cousin who'd taken it died (of course the King told a different story). She did want to attend Henry's tournament though. Unfortunately, illness and old age kept her home in her own palace nearly every day. Prince Henry made a note to visit her before the retinue left London.

His father did not disappoint at breakfast. King Henry once again boasted about going to war for his mother when he was the age that most boys in the retinue were now and he was fighting for his life and not for enjoyment like they would now be doing. One memorable moment was when he took Prince Henry aside and whispered that if the Prince felt he was losing, to mutter some hocus pocus at his rival to ensure a royal victory.

Prince Henry wished that was all his father had spoken about on the subject, but unfortunately he had a life changing announcement for most of the boys in the retinue.

Upon their arrival at breakfast, most of the boys were reunited with their family members and at first the breakfast seemed to be a joyous one. However, after King Henry's thorough questioning about their exploits while on tour for the past year (he took a particular long time asking questions about Prince Henry's wand and why he had never heard of that kind of tree before). Then he cleared his throat and said he had something important to inform them all about.

An ominous feeling rose in the air and all of the parents of the boys in the retinue bowed their heads and looked away from their sons.

"From this day forward, with the exception of my son, all of you training in the retinue are hereby stripped of the titles you were born with and any other inheritances you may have been eligible for. You may continue to attend him and try to achieve knighthood through means of participation as squires in tournaments but none of you are to be welcomed in court in the future as anything more than a friend to the Prince."

The outrage on Rob's face was immediate but he kept quiet in the presence of the King. He turned to look at his father who didn't meet his eye. William FitzRobert, Earl of Gloucester, said nothing in defense of his only son. None of the parents looked surprised at this news. It appeared this had already been discussed and agreed upon by some means while the retinue was on tour.

With the merriment at an end, the King abruptly dismissed the breakfast. Feeling affronted, the boys nevertheless followed their training and left to prepare for the tournament. Prince Henry stayed behind, Rob waited for him in the doorway in the next room.

"Why are you doing this father?" he did his best not to sound demanding.

"Magic in Court will begin and end with you." The King regarded Prince Henry almost like a hostile. "You and _your princess_ ," he said mockingly, "will produce heirs and you will not name an heir until you are sure that at least one of them does NOT display magic and THAT one will be your heir. I'm going to stick around long enough to make sure of it."

"That didn't answer my question," replied Prince Henry.

The King stood up from the table and leaned down to be eye level with Prince Henry, "I don't need to explain myself to anyone. Not even to you."

Prince Henry understood he was being dismissed and reluctantly bowed his head the just the slightest before turning and leaving to go find Rob.

Only when they reached their private tent did he breathe normally again. His simple tent had instantly felt much more like home than his rooms in his father's palace ever did on the first day his retinue left London a year ago. Now back in familiar territory the two boys stewed together and tried to figure out what the King was so worried about.

When they were dressed in their leathers and armor and waiting for their turn to be announced Wyn stepped into their tent, followed closely by a surprise visitor.

"Grandmother!" Henry jumped up from his seat and ran to hug the King's mother, Matilda and then quickly escorted her to his now vacant chair.

"Hello, Aunt Matilda," said Rob in his own shy way of greeting. She may dote on her own grandchildren immensely but it tended to be hit or miss with other children and Rob had been on the receiving end of her severe voice more often than not. Whether or not he deserved it, which he usually did, was always a matter of great debate with Rob.

Rob was named after his grandfather, Matilda's own illegitimate half-brother Robert FitzRoy, who helped her during her war to take back the throne and afterwards became the 1st Earl of Gloucester, a title now held by Rob's own father, William.

"Good morning, young Lord Robert, I trust you two are prepared for your competition later?"

"Yes, ma'am," answered Rob lowering his eyes. "But I'm afraid it's just Robert now."

"Excuse me?" asked Matilda.

Prince Henry explained as best as he could that the King stripped the titles from everyone in the retinue without revealing why the King had done so.

Grandmother Matilda took in this news with her face growing more and more angry, "No." She shook her head in disagreement. "There's nothing I can do for the other boys in your retinue, I'm sorry for that. But I'll be damned if my son strips the title from my favorite brother's grandson!" She looked at Rob and with a piecing gaze said, " _Lord_ Robert, you may not be royal but you are blood and that title was earned for your family and my son would do well to remember that you don't turn your back on blood!"

Rob was at a loss for words, Prince Henry knew he always thought he was only tolerated by Grandmother Matilda. He never dreamed that she thought of him as family.

Seeing Rob's obvious discomfort, Prince Henry took back the attention, "Grandmother, I thought you weren't to leave your home? It's not good for you to be out and about when…"

"When I'm old and dying?" she barked. "Go on you can say it boy!"

It was Prince Henry's turn to be at a loss as how to respond.

"I'm dying anyway," she said matter-of-factly. "I'll do as I please. Now, this young man tells me that the two of you received your wands yesterday?" She indicated Wyn who had led her into the tent, "Tell me, what have you learned about using them so far?"

Prince Henry and Rob both looked horrorstruck at Wyn, as far as they knew the only people aware of the true nature of the retinue was the King and Queen and the parents of the boys. No one else was supposed to know.

Grandmother Matilda broke the silence, "Come now, who do you think made your father contact that school in Scotland against his own wishes and convinced him to let this young man be your tutor? If I were in charge I would have sent you to that school and been done with it, heir to the throne or not, but your father is set in his ways. Now, show me what you've learned."

Prince Henry and Rob brought out their wands and at first didn't know what to do, they hadn't had time to train with them since receiving them.

Wyn began his first instruction, "Wave them like you did in Mr. Ollivander's."

When they did, both wands emitted sparks of red and gold like they had before.

"Now this time, when you wave them, concentrate on specific colors you want emitted."

Prince Henry's sparks turned a pale yellow, but soon he was making brilliant greens, sky blues, deep reds, and dark purples, before finally ending in a bright brown. Rob's colors were all over the visible spectrum, it seemed he was keen to make every color he'd ever seen.

"That's wonderful, and you Sir Wyn? What have you learned with your wand?" Grandmother Matilda asked as she leaned back in her chair to relax a bit after her travels to London.

Wyn pulled out his crooked wand and pointed it a chest in the tent, it turned into a large pig and back again. Then he made a bit of rope tie itself into a knot, he made Rob dance uncontrollably, and he changed the pattern on a horse blanket.

Grandmother Matilda however, was not yet impressed. "What can you show me that is actually useful?"

Without hesitating, Wyn rose and walked outside the tent. He muttered a few words and the inside of the tent grew and grew and grew until it was large enough for three families to stay inside comfortably. Coming back inside he cast protective charms including a muffling charm so no one could eavesdrop what was being said inside and then he showed the little he learned of healing by bringing a dying bit of grass inside and turning it bright green again and finally he showed them shielding charms in the rare case of needing to protect oneself from other wizards.

Grandmother Matilda still did not seem much impressed, other than the healing charms. "But how can one use magic, for the good of the people?"

This time it was Wyn's turn to be dumbfounded.

"I know you don't have a defined role exactly, but I trust you are smart enough to figure it out. I don't know what the King asked of you, but I would think that how one can use magic for the good of the people would be a main priority when it comes to training the heir to the throne."

"Of course, Your Highness," replied Wyn using her highest rank of widowed Queen.

At that moment, another unexpected visitor arrived.

Princess Margaret pulled back the tent flap and stepped inside, "Prince Henry…." She stopped flat and stared around the disproportionate size of the inside of the tent and it was a moment before she even remembered to breathe. She looked like she didn't know what to say and instead of saying the wrong thing she mouthed wordlessly. She slowly back out of the tent, looked down its side on the outside and came back in.

"How?" was the only word she uttered. Prince Henry and Rob only looked at each other, it was their first mishap they'd been a part of. They looked first to Wyn for direction and then to Grandmother Matilda. Surely she would know how to handle someone new knowing about their magic.

Grandmother Matilda seemed to be the only one not shocked by Princess Margaret's appearance, "Sir Wyn was showing me a bit of magic, dear."

"What?" Princess Margaret's eyes were huge and disbelieving.

"Oh, come now child. I go to a lot of trouble getting you the best private tutors I can find, available or not and this is your reaction?" Grandmother Matilda took another pondering look at the Princess and then abruptly turned her attention on Prince Henry. "DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOUR WIFE DOESN'T KNOW YOU ARE A WIZARD?"

Prince Henry was reluctant to speak, "No, Ma'am," he said in a small voice.

Princess Margaret looked like she was replaying their conversation in the gardens and said almost breathlessly, "When you said you'd like to go someplace fantastical? Magical even? That was a real wish?"

Prince Henry nodded solemnly.

Grandmother Matilda leaned forward very menacingly towards Prince Henry. Then she pointed at Princess Margaret and said, "This young lady doesn't get treated like the royalty that she is, because of your father. She spends her days alone, without any other girls her age. She's not only immensely devoted to her studies so much so that she is more knowledgeable than people twice her age, but she is also very aware of world politics and has shown competency in accurately predicting foreign monarchs' moves and counter-moves against each other."

Grandmother Matilda looked at Princess Margaret expectantly to confirm what she said.

"We talked about the foreign monarchs like it was a game when I was smaller, now we talk about it like it's chess." Princess Margaret furled her eyebrows at Grandmother Matilda for the briefest of seconds before remembering her training and putting back on a stoic face.

Grandmother Matilda missed nothing though, "The King compensates your governess and hand-maidens to keep their eyes on you for him, but I get regular updates from at least two of your instructors, every time you get new ones. You are the future Queen of England after all."

The Prince's grandmother turned her sharp eyes back on Prince Henry, "If there is anyone you could choose to have your back on something so important as protecting your wizard status, it would be this young lady right here who is already apparently very devoted to you. Don't tell me she's not or that you didn't know, I saw the big smile on her face when she was coming into the tent. She was looking forward to seeing you. Now, you had something to say dear?"

Princess Margaret looked around at everyone in the room. Rob kept glancing at Grandmother Matilda waiting for her to explode in anger, Wyn looked as though he didn't really want to be in the room but felt obligated to be there and Grandmother Matilda seemed to be taking all this new information in stride. Then the princess focused on Prince Henry, "You can really do magic?"

Prince Henry nodded, "So can my cousin Rob, and Wyn, our tutor."

"Sir …Wyn?" she asked hesitantly using his nickname. He smiled and nodded.

"And Lord …Rob?" she asked turning her gaze to Prince Henry's best friend and also using his nickname.

"I like that, Lord Rob," he said smiling. "Hopefully I'll keep it, but you can just call me Rob like Wyn and Henry do though and if it's okay, your name is way too long and I'm just going to call you Meg okay?"

Princess Margaret furled her eyebrows at her new nickname but then she nodded her acceptance to it.

She turned to Prince Henry, "I just wanted you to know that my carriage was leaving, and I won't be attending your first tournament after all." It looked as though she were on the verge of tears.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Grandmother Matilda.

"I was told there were too many important guests invited by the King himself and that there would be no room for me. Prince Henry's younger siblings are to be sent back to the palace and I to my keep." She looked forlorn, like she had actually been looking forward to watching the tournament.

Anger flashed in Grandmother Matilda's eyes, "Until you are Queen, you are at the very least visiting foreign royalty not to mention married to the heir and therefore deserve greater honor than any of my son's rich noble guests, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let him send back my other grandchildren on one of the few days that I've left my own castle! No, you stay with me until I talk to my son, understand?"

Princess Margaret nodded, looking slightly happier.

"Now, finally, onto more pressing matters," said Grandmother Matilda conspiratorially. She looked as though this is what she'd been waiting to talk about all along but was waiting to get the feel of the new politics floating around. "Word is, your father has spent the past year working up legislature that will disband the Wizardrys here in England. Once it's taken hold here, that kind of legislature will expand to all the known lands. He says it's to protect your wizard identity; that if the general population finds out they have a wizard for a King, the faith will do everything in their power to not only de-throne you but end our family completely to stamp out any possible magic hiding elsewhere. Now, some of that is very possible, but what's really going on here is that your father is afraid that once the rest of your wizarding world discovers they have someone in power in their midst, they will try to seize power over all the non-magical for themselves with you as their puppet leader."

"That's why he stripped our titles?" asked Rob.

Grandmother Matilda nodded.

"But, there aren't enough of us to seize power over anything," said Prince Henry. "Of all the people who live in the Wizardrys, only a handful are true witches or wizards."

"Not according to your father. I've spoken with your mother already. She doesn't care if you are a wizard or not, she never wants to see you persecuted either. She will back you however you may need it but she must do so quietly." It looked difficult for her to say her next words, "I'm afraid I won't be here to help you see this through."

Prince Henry walked over and knelt at his grandmother's side, "Grandmother, don't speak like that. You're going to go back to your castle, and you're going to be fine and you will live to see my children be born."

Grandmother Matilda smiled and pulled Prince Henry into a hug, "You are as kind as I wish my own son had been. I'm happy to have lived long enough to know you." Then she beckoned Princess Margaret over and took her hand, "Promise me child, I know it's usually the man who makes promises to protect the woman in marriage, but promise me that you will do everything you can to protect my Prince Henry here."

Princess Margaret knelt down next to the side of Grandmother Matilda's seat and looked up at her with her bright brown eyes, "I promise." Prince Henry smiled inwardly, Princess Margaret didn't realize she'd had more family here in England than she'd originally thought.

"I promise too," echoed Rob quietly.

Grandmother Matilda glanced over at him and nodded and then reached out and straightened a stray strand of Princess Margaret's pale yellow hair before saying, "Now this is a girl who recognizes when someone's end is near and gets to the point!" She took a deep breath and then said, "Well, let's go then. I have to tell my son off for not letting me see my grandchildren after I've come all this way and for defiling the memory of my favorite brother."

Grandmother Matilda and Princess Margaret rose to leave.

Before they stepped outside of the tent Prince Henry promised to visit Grandmother Matilda after the tournament and Princess Margaret bid all three of them good luck.


	5. Chapter 5

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter Five: Sir William "Wyn" Marshal

Both Prince Henry and Rob did fairly well in the melee and Prince Henry won the one-on-one sword contest, narrowly beating out the fourteen-year-old local champion. The champion had been bulkier than twelve-year-old Prince Henry but under Wyn's tutelage, paired with growing up with a sword in his hand, the Prince's experience won out. Rob scraped a fourth place, and third went to Princess Margaret's visiting cousin Prince Philip from France.

Prince Philip was just shy of his fifteenth birthday and would soon be too old to compete in the young boys' tournaments. Receiving third place really stuck in his craw and it was this reason that drove him, and his cousin Count Baldwin who did not place at all, to also seek Wyn's tutelage and become part of Prince Henry's retinue.

The whole retinue was in the tent laughing and celebrating their successes and ridiculing each other of their failures good-naturedly when Prince Philip entered and asked if the two of them could join. Wyn graciously tried to say no.

"I was beaten by a twelve-year-old," argued Prince Philip.

Wyn tried to placate the foreign Prince, "There are permissions that are needed, from Prince Henry's father first. I can't just let you come with us…" He was interrupted however, when another surprise visitor entered the tent. One who had Wyn leaping to attention.

Professor Godric Gryffindor swept inside, followed by two small creatures Wyn recognized as house elves. Wyn was torn, he was ecstatic to see his mentor but he couldn't properly greet him with Prince Philip of France present.

Wyn turned to Prince Henry, "Your Highness, this is my instructor, Professor Gryffindor."

Losing all sense of propriety Rob pointed at the creatures and asked, "What are those?"

Professor Gryffindor smiled serenely but, surprising everyone in the retinue, it was the foreign Prince Philip who answered, "They're house elves," he said off-handedly. He turned to Professor Gryffindor, "You're a wizard then? And these are your servants?"

Professor Gryffindor's smile widened broadly and he nodded, then he extended his hand in greeting, "Godric Gryffindor, I saw you competing. Prince Philip of France, third place today, correct?" he asked.

Prince Philip made a face at being reminded he only received third place and shook Professor Gryffindor's hand, "Yes, Prince Philip. Third place. You teach, at the school in Scotland."

Professor Gryffindor eyes lit up with the recognition and replied, "That I do." Then he turned to Wyn, "Are you going to let this young man join your cohort?"

Both Wyn and Prince Henry's eyes grew huge, "This, this, this retinue is only for…." Wyn stuttered and shook his head no while his words trailed off.

"This retinue is for magic users," said Professor Gryffindor bluntly. "Wizards, like yourselves," he gestured to all the noble boys in the tent, "and Prince Philip here."

Prince Philip was taken aback, "How did you know?"

Professor Gryffindor smiled with a knowing twinkle in his eye, "I've been around for well over a hundred years. I know many a royalty and nobles, both here and abroad, who have magic in their families. Your father's side right?"

Prince Philip only looked confused.

"And dare I say your mother's side?" pressed the professor.

"Yes, my mother taught me all she knew," he admitted. "Are you saying my father's family also has magic?"

Wyn noticed Prince Henry perked up at this, if magic ran in Prince Philip's father's side there was a chance that Princess Margaret had magic or could pass magic onto her children.

"It would be a miracle if your father's side doesn't have magic floating around, I've seen many generations of royal families intermingling," said the professor with a wink. "I'm certain all of them are carrying the ability hiding in their family trees."

Rob, who had been eyeing the house elves, interrupted again, "Where have you seen a house elf before?" he asked Prince Philip.

"My mother is going to inherit one, when her mother passes," he said simply.

Rob's eyes grew very round. Ever since Wyn spoke to the retinue once around the campfire about magical creatures, he'd wanted a house elf and insisted someday he would find one available for purchase. Wyn couldn't possibly fathom what he was thinking with two of them in front of his eyes.

One of the elves looked older than the other and seemed to be a male, he wore a cloth tied like a toga in scarlet and gold and it was very clean. The other appeared younger and Wyn figured this one was female because she was wearing a tiny dress splashed in all sorts of patterns in what Wyn recognized as Gryffindor scarlet, Slytherin green, Hufflepuff yellow and Ravenclaw blue.

Professor Gryffindor looked just as he had a year ago when Wyn graduated and left for London to start Prince Henry's tour. He was wearing his very old patched hat he had long since been famous for never getting rid of since the days of his own youth and long robes, customary wizard wear, instead of breeches and his hair and beard were long and white though his face wasn't nearly as lined as those of people half his age. He was old, even by wizard standards, but he still moved as nimbly as a young man, his eyes were bright and alert as anyone's and his hands did not shake in the slightest. He openly carried his wand on one side of his belt and a sword with a great red jewel in the hilt inside a scabbard on the other side.

Prince Henry stepped forward and smiled taking Professor Gryffindor's hands, "Thank you for coming." Then he turned to Prince Philip, "If it's true you are also a wizard, then the only permission you need to join my retinue is my own, and you have it."

Prince Philip nodded, "It's true." His face broke into a smile.

Wyn however, looked incredulous at Prince Henry, "You _knew_ he was coming?" indicating Professor Gryffindor.

Prince Henry smiled his half smile he always used when he knew he got the better of someone.

"The lad sent me an invitation I couldn't refuse," said Professor Gryffindor.

"Couldn't refuse?" Wyn looked questioningly at Prince Henry.

"When we were in Paris, Rob found a man I could pay in the Wizardry to send a message to Professor Gryffindor at Hogwarts. The man did try to have me send it instead to Beauxbatons, but my mind was already made up."

Wyn watched as Prince Henry took a deep breath and turned to address the boys in his retinue.

"In Paris we learned that my father granted permission for us to obtain wands. This morning we learned that he stripped away your titles. Essentially, you are all orphans under my care and I am going to implore you to take the option I've been working on acquiring for all of you."

Prince Henry gestured towards Professor Gryffindor, "This man is an instructor and a Founder from Hogwarts, and he is here to take anyone who wishes to attend his school."

He stepped closer to the boys to be more personable, "I think my father is trying to eradicate all magic from Court and that he is hoping my own heirs will be born 'normal'. I'm here to tell you now that I am not my father. So long as he is King we must obey his laws, however I will work towards better tolerance during my own tenure. This is not a one-time offer to leave for Hogwarts. Should anyone choose to stay now but wishes to leave later, you may do so and should anyone leave now and wish to return you may also do so." Prince Henry furrowed his brows for a second, and then nodded to himself as though making sure he'd covered everything in his speech he'd meant to.

Professor Gryffindor caught Wyn's eye and gestured towards the house-elves.

Wyn took that as his cue to lead again and stepped forward, "Anyone who wishes to take the Prince's offer and leave for Hogwarts, please step to the back of the tent. The house elves will Apparate you near the grounds in pairs."

Every single of the boys filed to the back. Wyn watched as Rob waited for them to disappear in their small groups with both house elves taking two at a time. Finally, there was only Rob, Prince Henry, Prince Philip, and Count Baldwin left with Wyn and Professor Gryffindor. The house elves returned and looked around to see if anyone else needed escorting.

Prince Henry looked at Rob expectantly, "It's what we've always talked about. You should go."

Rob stood there, still indecisive. He glanced at the house elves, who waited patiently. At last he spoke, "If you can't go, I can't go. Besides, who's going to be here to spar with you if I leave? You need me. And I'm my father's only son. If I leave I will lose my title for sure, I know it."

Prince Henry broke into a large smile, "You can always change your mind later."

Rob looked resolute and for the first time spoke without any mocking or whining in his voice, "I won't. I'll be at your side. Always."

Professor Gryffindor spoke up, "Visitors are approaching."

The Dowager Queen 'Grandmother' Matilda and Princess Margaret came into the tent.

The Dowager Queen stopped and beadily inspected Professor Gryffindor, "I've seen you before," she said. "Many years ago and yet you don't look as old as you ought to be."

Prince Henry stepped forward, "Grandmother, this is Professor Gryffindor a Founder of Hogwarts, that school you said I should have gone to."

The Dowager Queen seemed to understand then, "I see. Are you leaving for his school then?"

"No, he took most of my retinue to Hogwarts, now it's just Rob, Prince Philip and his cousin from France and I. Wyn will have more time to focus on the four of us now."

"Plus you will be safer with fewer of you for him to look after," said his grandmother.

Rob looked at Princess Margaret, "So you were able to stay for the tournament then, Meg?"

The Princess smiled a brilliant smile and glanced up at Prince Henry's grandmother, "Grandmother Matilda barely said a few words to the King and everything was put the way it was before." Wyn didn't miss the same title of endearment she used as Prince Henry did for the Dowager Queen. "She managed to get you your title back too," she said.

Rob's eyes widened and shined with excitement.

The Dowager Queen smiled at her distant nephew, "I'll kindly remind you to live up to your grandfather who earned it in the first place."

Rob nodded in gratitude.

Princess Margaret glanced at Prince Philip, "Are you going to be part of Henry's retinue?"

Prince Philip seemed perplexed.

Wyn watched as Prince Henry realized Prince Philip didn't recognize Princess Margaret as his cousin. "Prince Philip, Count Baldwin, this is my grandmother, the Dowager Queen Matilda. And this is Princess Margaret, of France. Your cousin."

Prince Philip was taken aback and snapped his attention on his cousin, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize! I see it now though, you look just like your mother, Aunt Constance."

"Really?" asked Princess Margaret in a small voice.

Count Baldwin, who'd been quiet this entire time, spoke up, "You have the same pale yellow hair and brown eyes. You're the only daughter who does, the others take after your father."

Princess Margaret smiled, "So, you two have magic as well?"

Prince Philip's eyes widened, "Do you have magic?"

"No." She looked uncertainly in Prince Henry's direction, silently asking if she'd already loosed the secret she had pledged to keep.

Prince Henry came to her rescue, "Meg, your family has magic too! Your cousin is going to be touring with us. The rest of the retinue left for Hogwarts with …" Prince Henry paused when he realized he didn't know the names of the house elves.

Professor Gryffindor, who had been watching this exchange with great interest, volunteered their names, "Cadoc," he gestured toward the older male-looking one, "has been with me for many decades now just as his ancestors have been with mine for many generations. Nandy there, is his daughter and she is promised to Hogwarts upon my death."

Prince Henry resumed what he was saying, "The rest of the retinue left for Hogwarts with Cadoc and Nandy." Professor Gryffindor smiled indulgently.

"What do you mean 'promised to Hogwarts'?" asked Rob curiously, the slightest look of wanting crossing his features briefly.

"Rob, that's inappropriate," started Wyn.

"It's alright," said Professor Gryffindor, "honest questions are welcome." He turned to Rob, "Hogwarts is growing and the castle takes quite a bit of work to maintain. We will always take any house elf who finds themselves without a wizard family. However, house elves are coveted by the families who have them and so far, Hogwarts has precious few. Nandy, and all of her descendants will help those numbers grow over time."

"I'll take one," said Rob under his breath, but Wyn was sure only Prince Henry and himself were meant to hear him.

Princess Margaret went over to the house elves and made herself comfortable sitting in front of them, "Hello, I'm Meg." She looked at Nandy, "I like your dress, did you make it yourself?"

To the Princess's horror Nandy immediately began tearing up. In a high squeaky voice, she replied, "Nandy would prefer not to speak of herself shamefully wearing clothes, Princess Meg."

Wyn watched the Princess turn to Prince Henry for direction, but he looked on with his own confusion and turned to Wyn.

"Giving a house elf clothes is the normal public display to show they've been dismissed from service," said Wyn to his royal charges. "Even though Nandy is an exemplary house elf, she is still changing Masters and therefore is required to commit to the custom." He glanced at his mentor Professor Gryffindor for confirmation.

"You've still a sharp mind, Sir Marshal. Puzzled that one out very quickly you did!" Professor Gryffindor used his teacher's voice.

"All the pieces were there," said Wyn.

"It distresses her," said Princess Margaret loudly, still sitting on the ground in front of Nandy who was still leaking silent tears of shame. "So we'll stop discussing the matter." She reached out her hand to the young house elf. After a timid moment, Nandy reached back and let the Princess squeeze hers reassuringly. Princess Margaret stood up again and brushed the small bits of grass from her dress. Behind her, Nandy was quickly drying her eyes and taking calming breaths.

The Dowager Queen piped up her opinion, "I agree with the girl, and we need to talk about the matters at hand. My son is making plans to find a reason to change the line of succession."

That got everyone's attention.

The Dowager Queen glanced over at Professor Gryffindor, "I know you are busy trying to keep your people safe from those who think like my son, but I have faith you'll have time to help keep an eye on my grandson?"

Professor Gryffindor nodded, "I'll be around for quite some time, and it is in our best interests to keep as many witches and wizards with influence in their stations for the benefit of everyone."

The Dowager Queen turned her attention on Wyn, "And you boy? You'll protect him day to day? And train him up …with the rest of them?"

Wyn nodded, "My only loyalty is to this retinue."

The Dowager Queen smiled at Wyn indulgently, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Then she turned to Rob and the foreign Prince and Count, "And you boys? You need to stick together above all else. Especially if relations between our kingdoms ever becomes sour. Keep in mind that countries squabble, but you're part of something much bigger than that."

The four boys all looked at one another. It was Prince Philip who broke the silence. "Becoming involved with a foreign country's attempt at changing the line of succession could lead our countries to war. But I suppose, as far as I'm concerned, we're all family." He looked at Princess Margaret as he said this. "I will attempt to help her keep her future throne."

Wyn glanced in Princess Margaret's direction, though she was very good at keeping a stoic face, he watched the subtle changes in her features as a glimmer of hope that part of her real family would be closer crossed them. Then the slightest look of loss when she apparently realized that Prince Philip would be leaving with Prince Henry and she would be alone again.

As Wyn looked away, his gaze briefly connecting with Professor Gryffindor's, who had been watching him intensely. It was the same stare he used when students were in trouble.

The Dowager Queen finished speaking with the boys in the retinue and turned her attention on Princess Margaret.

"All that we have left to discuss is you dear," she said looking at the young Princess.

"You want my help?" asked the Princess.

"I've made arrangements for you to receive a new hand maiden. One of my choosing that my dolt of a son thinks will be one his own choosing. She's quite gifted at deception, but not good enough to not get caught by me. She's alone in the world and when I'm gone, she won't have anyone. Befriend her, really take her in like family, and she'll do more for you than you could ever repay. Like she has already done for me."

The Dowager Queen braced herself for what she was going to say next, "We need you girl, spying at the palace."

"How can I spy when I don't live there?"

"You aren't going to be alone anymore, child," said the Dowager Queen to the Princess. "The girl I'm sending your way will know what I have in mind. From there I am confident that between the two of you are bright enough to figure out something."

Professor Gryffindor volunteered his help to the Princess, "Nandy will also be at your disposal, Princess. Cadoc is more than capable of looking after me himself and Nandy's time is available for the foreseeable future."

Prince Henry was watching this turn of events between the adults but now he stepped back into the conversation, "Spying is dangerous, if she's caught she'll be called treasonous and my father will show no mercy in her punishment." He turned to look directly at the Princess, "You don't have to do this."

"We're talking about a contingency plan that will more than likely to lead to a civil war boy! You _all_ may be labeled treasonous if push comes to shove!" growled the Dowager Queen. "Keep in mind won't be around to help you with this!"

Princess Margaret looked torn, she clearly wanted to do everything in her power to help Prince Henry but she just as clearly didn't want to go against his wishes. She glanced at Prince Philip with an apologetic look in her eyes, then she turned back to Prince Henry, "You are the only family I had growing up and likely the only family I will ever truly know. I will do whatever it takes to protect my family."

She turned back to Prince Philip, "I don't want you to feel like I've abandoned my birth family in France, I just can't remember them."

"Your duty is to your husband above all else, but should you ever wish to return home," he gave a meaningful glance to Prince Henry, "for any reason, you will be welcomed back with open arms from both your mother and father. Besides, a change in succession with no legal reason, will anger all the other Monarchies and Rome and no monarchy will reveal about themselves or each other that they have magic to the church. We are all in this together."

Princess Margaret gave her cousin a small smile and it made her young face more radiant than Wyn had ever seen it before.

"That's settled then," proclaimed the Dowager Queen. "We will do as we must to protect Prince Henry's birth right."

"Not just my birth right," said Prince Henry. "If my father succeeds in ridding the Royal family and all of court and the high nobles of magic, what's to stop him from going after everyone with magic? This needs to end with me."

Professor Gryffindor stood to take his leave, "I couldn't have said it better myself. This could go far beyond purging high-borns of magic. Now," he looked at Princess Margaret, "I have a feeling you are going to be a major go-between for information. You just call out for Nandy here if you ever need to get a message to me. And don't hesitate to ask her for help for anything else either. House elves are exceedingly resourceful."

Princess Margaret smiled at Nandy one last time, then she looked at Professor Gryffindor, "Thank you."

Professor Gryffindor bade farewell to Wyn's royal charges and the Dowager Queen, then beckoned for Wyn to follow him outside.

"It was a good surprise seeing you today, Sir," Wyn began.

Professor Gryffindor waved away the pleasantries. "Have you been alright this past year? Any slip ups of your own that we should talk about before I take my leave? Slip ups, like the one you had at school?"

Wyn straightened his back and squared his shoulders, "No, sir. Not a single slip up. I've been vigilant about concentrating on the boys and their needs only."

"What about during your stay in the larger cities?"

"Nothing. I keep to the tent, and the tournament only."

Professor Gryffindor eyed him warily for another moment.

"That's good to hear, my boy. It appears, so far, I was right in thinking this would be a good job for you after your early graduation. I only have one request for the future."

"Anything, sir."

"Do not correspond with Princess Margaret. Even if one of the Princes order you to on their behalf. Need I to remind you why?"

Wyn looked taken aback. "Sir, the Princess, she's just a child. I would never…"

"The Princess is only a few years younger than Miss Peverell was."

"That will _never_ happen again. Sir, you have my word."

"Nevertheless, no contact. Understand?"

It was as though Wyn was back at Hogwarts and Professor Gryffindor was talking to him like a student brought to his office for a crime. His face flushed in an anger he thought he'd stamped out of his life years ago.

"I remember, and I understand."

Professor Gryffindor stepped close to Wyn, so there would be no doubt in his next words. "I think, that it is only right that I should inform you that I've been working on a new charm with some colleagues. A Memory Charm, that can wipe away whatever the caster wishes to wipe away from another person's mind. With a few more adjustments we think we can produce a version that can be permanent. I am prepared to use this charm on you, should the case arise."

Wyn stepped back in horror, "That's not a charm! That's a CURSE!"

Professor Gryffindor didn't argue, instead he spoke very softly when he said, "I was the one who pushed to get you a second chance, and so far, I have not regretted my decision." His voice grew with more strength as he went on, "However, that also makes it my responsibility to deal with the consequences if I _were_ to ever regret my decision."

Wyn stood his ground, "I think your back up plan is horrendous. Nobody should have the power to alter what another person thinks. You can make it sound pretty and appealing and righteous all you want by calling it a Charm but we both know once it becomes known out in the world it can and will be used with dark intentions."

"Perhaps, but such is the case with all magic," said the Professor quietly.

Wyn just shook his head in disbelief. Never would he have imagined his mentor taking on such an endeavor. Godric Gryffindor was the face of all things chivalrous. He believed in second chances, he believed in finding the deeper reasons and motivations, he believed in believing in people. He had made Wyn believe in all of those things. This easy, cover up answer seemed completely out of character for Professor Gryffindor.

Wyn clenched his jaw for a moment before snarling, "Well, it's a good thing it won't be necessary." He was doing his best to keep his sudden flare of anger at bay.

"I don't wish to leave with you in a temper. You are still one of the most brilliant students I have ever had the pleasure of training. We all think so. And it looks like you are doing a superb job with Prince Henry and his retinue."

Wyn allowed himself a small smile in spite of his earlier outburst. "Prince Henry and his cousin Rob would have excelled at Hogwarts. They both have exceedingly sharp minds and can do anything they set themselves to, especially when they are together."

"You would have made a fine Professor at Hogwarts, but not even I could ever allow that after the incident with Miss Peverell."

Wyn gave a slight nod of understanding.

Then he asked a question that had been on his mind for the past year, "When the Prince has finished his education and no longer requires my leadership … would it be possible for me to work on some research for new spells with your colleagues?"

Professor Gryffindor gave a small indulgent smile, "We'll discuss it when the time comes."

Wyn had a foreboding feeling that that was a very quiet no, and again thought about all the times Professor Gryffindor and the other founders tried to push him away from putting his energy into turning charms into jinxes and hexes.

Even though he was feeling the early stirrings of disappointment, he still put on a pleased expression and said, "Yes, sir."

"Until next time then," Professor Gryffindor beckoned to Cadoc and Nandy and the three of them Disapparated at the same time.

"Until next time," said Wyn out loud, to nobody in particular. He could hear Prince Henry saying his good-byes to the Dowager Queen and Princess Margaret. He decided to make good on his promise of no contact with the Princess beginning immediately and left to start preparations for the next tour. There were supplies to sell with the reduced number of boys in the retinue and accommodations to acquire befitting another prince and a count.


	6. Chapter 6

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter Six: Prince Henry

 _Three Years Later_

Prince Henry was excited. He was heading back to London at last. The past three years were so far the best of his whole life. Even better than his first tour, before receiving his wand, because he'd had the additional satisfaction of learning magic.

Wyn had started them off fairly easy during their first few months on the new tour. They learned basic wand movements and spell pronunciations and he gave them a very diverse education on all the magical plants they came across in the wild. Every day he would pick the local magical ones they came across during their travels and tell them all he knew about them. The following day he would quiz them on what they remembered.

Within a few months, all four boys could cook, set up and tear down camp, brew easy potions and cast simple charms to make camping easier.

When Rob asked if there was a spell to aid in hunting, Wyn had gone on for some time about a curse so powerful it could snuff the life out of any being instantly. Instead of teaching the boys such a curse however, he cast new charms on their hunting bows so their aim was always true.

Over the course of the next couple of years, this became a great source of fun for Henry's cousin, Robert, who would see an approaching village and hunt quite a few large animals and charm them feather light to bring back to camp and bring them into town to donate to the villagers. Robert was never interested in money, he did it for the fame and admiration. The villagers would praise him and name him Benevolent Bobby.

As time passed they'd picked up a handful of new members to tour with as well. Aside from Prince Philip and his cousin Count Baldwin, they'd gained Lady Alessa from a small but wealthy family in France and brothers Elias and Edric who'd heard of the retinue from the boys who went with Professor Gryffindor's house elves to Hogwarts and the two brothers had abandoned school to tour instead.

Lady Alessa was like no lady Prince Henry had ever met before. She was nearly twice the age of everyone else in the retinue and preferred to wear breeches when they were in the country, though she donned dresses for walking around cities and even had a special dress for when she worked on armor for the retinue.

Lady Alessa's family had passed on the secret of their superior armor to no one but their own direct descendants and again, only those who would inherit the family title at that. Normally, the child chosen would be whichever displayed the most competent magic to continue to grow the family fortune.

However, the youngest of four and the only girl, Alessa was the sole child born to her father who displayed magic. To 'make matters worse,' according to her father, she showed zero interest in ever developing more than a platonic relationship with anyone. She was perfectly content using her magic to make armor for her family and the French army officers and the royal family members as long as the price was right. Unfortunately, this had not been enough for her father.

In her mid-twenties, her father had finally given up on trying to marry her off and instead took a chapter out of his ancestors' history books and decided to use her and her exceptional talents to train a "more appropriate" heir who could pass on the family name.

Being considerably younger than her older brothers, Lady Alessa grew up training in magic and watching the births of her nieces and nephews. None of which displayed any signs of magic.

Thinking his family was going to end in ruins, her father accused Lady Alessa's mother of crimes she hadn't committed and had her beheaded. He quickly remarried a young girl her family was distantly related to and began producing more heirs to choose from.

Lady Alessa was nearly thirty when one of her younger brothers finally began to show signs of magic as a young child. At thirty-three Lady Alessa was tasked with the early trainings for this younger brother, though she was still angry with her father for falsely accusing her mother. She began taking the family grimoire with its armor secrets and painstakingly copied it by hand into a book she'd bound herself.

Hearing whispers from magic users in her father's small court that Prince Henry of England's retinue was all magical, she waited until her father hosted a tournament that the retinue attended and stowed away on one of their wagons upon their departure after the tournament had ended.

When Wyn had caught her she immediately showed them her magical abilities, having already confirmed theirs while spying from her stowaway position in the wagon. When her story poured out, Wyn strongly advised against letting her stay but Princes Henry and Philip decided to let her stay.

Prince Henry had never seen Wyn so against anyone joining their group, in the past a simple display of magic and an okay from Prince Henry was all that had been required.

Resigned, Wyn had developed a glamour charm for her to use in case she came across people who knew her and taught all of them a transfiguration spell to change their clothing in the blink of an eye in case they all needed a quick getaway on her behalf. Rob had quite a bit of fun with that one for some time before eventually learning a new favorite spell.

As a trade-off, Lady Alessa helped the boys gain an early start in non-verbal magic. Her family was never allowed to say the secret spells aloud which they learned for their craft for fear of their secrets getting out and she had been required at a very young age to master non-verbals in her charm work.

Surprisingly, Count Baldwin excelled the fastest in non-verbals and could spend more free time on tourney training. Count Baldwin never said much or expressed his opinion in matters of the retinue, perhaps this explained his shine to non-verbals. He tended to let his cousin Prince Philip make calls that took his own well-being into account and to placidly follow the group otherwise.

He was average in his tourney training and other than doing spells he'd already mastered non-verbally, he was average in his magical studies as well. He was a bit of a mystery to Prince Henry though this was only because he wasn't constantly putting himself in the spotlight like Rob, Prince Philip, or Prince Henry even found himself doing at times.

Count Baldwin seemed perfectly happy with his status and the only thing Prince Henry found of real note was that Baldwin's loyalty to Prince Philip never wavered, nor did his loyalty to the retinue so long as it didn't clash with that to Prince Philip. Whenever Rob's, or either of the Princes' arrogance got the better of them at tournaments and other participants wanted another dueling challenge away from the official tournament, Count Baldwin always threw himself into the middle of the argument trying to dispel it with either with words or sword, whichever seemed the better choice.

That left Elias and Edric. They were brothers who had been tired of being cooped up in a castle after spending their childhood wandering the countryside with their nomadic families. Their parents had spent their entire lives trying to hide the boys' magical abilities but after one too many incidents the family had been caught.

Their mother and father, neither of which had been born magical, took the blame for whatever catastrophe the boys had caused and had been burned at the stake. The boys were quietly whisked off to Hogwarts after Founder Ravenclaw had heard about the incident and investigated only to discover them alone. Nobody in the retinue had yet wheedled out what mayhem the boys had caused, but their personalities were genial and Elias, the elder brother, was extremely focused on his studies whereas Edric was full of laughter, even at the direst of times.

Regardless of how they'd started, they were all family now. Lady Alessa discovered in one of the towns they stayed in during a tournament that her father had had her pronounced dead. She thought about changing her name to an English one to blend in better with the rest of the retinue, but Prince Philip wouldn't hear it. Among themselves, the retinue kept her title Lady as well.

She wasn't motherly exactly to them though she was considerably older, rather she was like a trusted older sister. Lady Alessa had never imagined herself having kids, and therefore never treated any of them as such.

During tournaments, she'd decline all the advances from the men there who mistakenly thought at first she was a whore who traveled with the retinue. It hadn't surprised Prince Henry that she'd received these advances, for even while wearing breeches she was very comely. She seemed even more so when she donned a dress to wear in public, to Wyn's great contempt.

Wyn would become very irritated anytime Lady Alessa showed her true feminine self, but even that passed over time. Eventually, Wyn adjusted to having a female in the camp and even became cordial if not friendly both in her presence and absence.

Realizing this had been a great relief to both Princes Henry and Philip. The retinue in its entirety had gotten along fairly well before Lady Alessa's arrival and neither of them wanted to send her away to bring back that feeling of unity, especially now that she had no place to go home to.

Today they were stronger than ever though, and they needed to be to enter King Henry's seat of power and make it out again with the whole retinue intact.

King Henry had sent word to Prince Henry to come home quickly. There was to be a ceremony for which he must be in attendance.

At first, Prince Henry couldn't think what ceremony could possibly have been important enough to have the heir attend, until he was able to get further information from Princess Margaret's spy at the castle.

His father was planning his coronation early. They were to follow a French practice and co-rule, father and son together as High King and Junior King of England.

As information from the Princess's spying trickled in, it became apparent that this had been a long planned ploy of his mother's, a woman of French descent. It was yet another plot to foil his father's plan of changing the line of succession.

"I think my father is just waiting for me to die in one of the tournaments," Prince Henry once said under his breath to Rob after reading a coded message from Princess Margaret. "That would make changing the line of succession very easy."

"It's hard for Muggles to kill wizards though. Were immune to most of their diseases, life threatening injuries, and Baldwin is studying Healing magic," Rob had said in reassurance.

None of that mattered today though. They were gaining on London and before nightfall, Prince Henry was going to see Princess Margaret in the flesh.

He allowed his bay mare to fall towards the back of the retinue so he could ruminate on his thoughts alone. Elias, Edric, and Lady Alessa were asking Rob about London while Prince Philip and Count Baldwin were leading the retinue and the ponied horses with Wyn at the front.

Prince Henry had grown during the last three years, and not just in height though now he was taller than many common men. His cousin Rob had received plenty of attention for himself from girls in the cities where the tournaments were being held and as a true friend, made sure there were many available girls for Prince Henry to choose from to experience as well.

Prince Henry was not shy, but even if he were his title of Prince allowed him his pick of whomever he wanted often whenever he wanted. He'd lost his virtue just over a year after his first tournament in London in a small village where the retinue had stopped overnight to resupply to an obviously experienced woman nearing her twenties. Rob had paid her a solid gold piece upon their departure and taunted Prince Henry about her for weeks afterwards.

At first this lifestyle was appealing, Rob certainly seemed to revel in it. He told outlandish stories to the girls they came across of his prowess in the tournaments and more often than not landed his mark. Rob didn't discriminate between known whores or innocent girls either. He claimed they were all worthy of his affections.

But it became a pattern.

All of the girls were aware that Prince Henry and his retinue weren't there to stay. None of them tried to get to know him personally. When he attempted to lose himself in a kiss with any who showed promise of more than a tumble they would pull away playfully and encourage him to get down to business.

He figured it out when one of them eventually called him, "My Prince," shortly after penetration. It was a declaration that of all the girls he could have chosen in the area, he'd chosen her. A declaration that didn't sit too well with him.

He looked into her blue eyes; the wrong color he thought to himself. He'd remembered his kiss with Princess Margaret and while reliving all the raw, honest emotion she had given him without asking for anything in return, he'd continued pumping into the girl with the wrong color eyes, whose name he'd already forgotten, with more vigor than he'd had in the beginning of their coupling.

Afterwards, he'd completely hated himself for it and from that night on he was kept awake with the memory of the Princess's kiss.

He'd kept looking for something to equal it while out touring but never coming close enough. The Princess didn't care about his money, she had her own. She didn't care about his title, she had an equal one of her own. She was free to give her true self to him and at the time had wanted nothing but his true self back.

He'd told no one but Rob. At first Rob was taken aback. This was something that never troubled him in any of his exploits.

"Doesn't it bother you that they don't actually care about you?" asked Prince Henry.

"No!" said Rob with an incredulous shake of his head. "For me, it's about having fun in the moment. That's all."

"It is fun," said Prince Henry, "I just … I want more."

"One day, you're going to be living in the palace in London, ruling with her. You can have _more_ and her everyday if you want," Rob said placatingly. "Right now, let's just have fun okay? There's going to be lots of time for that later."

Prince Henry nodded his head in dour agreement.

But Rob had taken their conversation to heart.

He made a point to try to find girls in the various villages who resembled the Princess with her pale yellow hair and brown eyes. Sometimes the hair was bright yellow. Sometimes the eyes were hazel or green instead of brown. Rob stopped teasing Prince Henry afterwards and made sure the Prince was slightly intoxicated before pushing a willing girl in his direction. He must have coached the girls a bit as well, for not one of them ever again called Prince Henry "My Prince."

As Prince Henry mused about all of these memories he made a mental note to quietly reward Rob for being a true and loyal friend to him, well beyond any family duties as cousins.

He began to grow nervous about seeing Princess Margaret again though. He wanted to kiss her again. It was all he'd been able to think about since finding out he was to be heading back to London straightaway. He wanted to know if that magic he'd felt in the Royal gardens, though he didn't realize it back then, was still alive between them. He was apprehensive at the thought that it might not be.

It had been three years. She was only twelve now. He was considered a man by many standards and she was still just a girl. What if she'd lost the boldness of her youth and was even now a prim and proper lady perfectly trained to be a docile figurehead to rule beside him in the future.

No, he shook his head. She's spying and reporting to him for the benefit of a people she isn't even part of. She's risking her life every day to help all wizard kind. That alone meant she couldn't possibly be a prim and proper lady. Proper maybe to the public eye, but never prim.

Prince Henry smiled to himself as his heart swelled with pride at the thought of Princess Margaret running an espionage network within the very walls of the palace she was set to be the future ruler of.

Grandmother Matilda, may her soul rest in peace, had been right. Princess Margaret was more educated, perceptive, and intelligent that most people twice her age. She had grown up taking every duty assigned to her seriously and other than her one passionate display in the gardens, had been the very picture of capable adult and was already blossoming into a seasoned leader.

They neared London and Prince Henry barely noticed that the city had grown in size since they'd been there last. Buildings that were barely huts before now towered and new homes had sprouted on the outskirts of town.

Rob dropped back to ride alongside Prince Henry, away from the rest of the retinue.

"You nervous?" he asked Prince Henry.

"About seeing my father? No, I'll look him in the eye and pretend I don't know he's been trying to legally get rid of me."

"I meant about seeing Meg."

Prince Henry was quiet for a long moment. "It comes in shifts. Nervous, excited, …"

"Scared?" finished Rob.

"Apprehensive," corrected Prince Henry.

"You thinking about consummating your marriage then?" asked Rob nonchalantly.

"She's just a girl!" snapped Prince Henry.

"That's a yes and a no," said Rob knowingly.

Prince Henry glared at him.

"You HAVE thought about it, but you aren't going to," Rob explained. "I get it. In that case I will set something up for you."

"I don't want you to set something up for me," began Prince Henry.

"That's not a direct order. How about I get something ready, and we'll see how it goes?" Rob smiled mischievously.

Prince Henry rolled his eyes, "Do as you will." He knew that setting something up "for the Prince" made it much easier to get his own benefit on the side than if Rob were to only set something up for himself.


	7. Chapter 7

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter Seven: Princess Margaret

Princess Margaret was sitting at her writing desk in her receiving room, her practice work for her lessons set aside in favor of a stack of papers from the King's palace that needed looking over.

Before Grandmother's Matilda's passing, she had convinced her son to start training the Princess in the ways of court and ruling and encouraged him to let her handle small local issues in the London area. Necessary as this was for her future as Queen, it was also a reason to come and go from the palace regularly.

She was currently poring over a new design to London's main bridge, this one for a structure made of stone rather than the traditional wood. The current bridge was still functional but only just. Workers had been repairing it multiple times every year and it finally had become more expensive to repair it regularly than to just tear it down and build a new one.

She went over the basic arches of the engineering designs and couldn't find fault with the math. However, stone was expensive, and disastrous if the blocks weren't cut nearly perfectly. On the other hand, timber would need to be imported from much farther away, probably from an ally country and bridges only made of timber tended to last roughly a decade with the supports constantly water logged.

She began to cross reference both projects with the budget for repairs to the city knowing her efforts would be fruitless. Either project she decided to back would be met with scorn from the King. If she chose to use stone, he would tell his court that she was already trying to frivolously spend English taxpayer money on an expensive endeavor and if she chose timber he would rebuke for not using her youth to be innovative and that it was a waste of time to have considered other options if they were going use the same old route as before.

Like every issue the King gave her to solve, there was no correct answer. They were all setups for her to fail in the eyes of the council.

She heard laughter in the halls while she was crunching numbers to see if the stone bridge was even a possibility.

Three young ladies entered her receiving room. All of them were older than the Princess and all of them were speaking excitedly about the upcoming nuptials of the eldest. Recently the King had stopped sending hand maidens and began sending noble ladies of age.

In an effort to get rid of her spying Ladies in Waiting from the King, Princess Margaret had begun putting her energies into finding matches for them as soon as they were entered into her service. Unfortunately, that plan had backfired as there seemed to be an endless amount of marriageable age young ladies looking for matches who were now all clamoring to be one of her official ladies. They saw the Princess as a good luck charm for landing a suitable husband.

As the trio entered her receiving room the laughter quickly died away. All of the ladies knew that Princess Margaret didn't care to be interrupted while she was working at her desk and she didn't acknowledge their presence until she'd finished going over the budget. She made a few notes and decided on the spot to take the brunt of the council's derision and to back the stone bridge over another timber one. While it was still on her mind she wanted to put down her own arguments for it.

She finished her writing in near silence, the scratching of her quill the only sound.

Life had taken a major upswing since she'd decided to be the troublesome Princess her governess kept making her out to be. The hand maidens, and later Ladies in Waiting, eventually stopped telling the Princess her schedule and she'd begun telling them theirs instead.

Not everything had improved however, the formidable governess was still in charge of her keep, still writing weekly detailed reports to the King. Slowly however, the Princess had found ways to strip the woman of her powers and influence with the rest of the staff at her keep.

The Princess finished writing down her mental notes and placed the parchment in a stack of other issues she was working on for the city. Then she opened a scroll she kept weekly detailing the events of the day.

"Lady Gillian, I received word that the dresses for you to choose from for you wedding day will be arriving within a week and that your future husband who often travels to Rome wishes you to be fluent in both Latin and Italian. Your lessons begin later today and as I am fluent in both languages I will be personally checking your progress so you have the basics before leaving my service."

Out of the corner of her eye, Princess Margaret saw the eldest girl's eyes light up at the mention of her dresses and then the subsequent look of dread at the mention of lessons with a tutor.

"Lady Edith," she directed her words to the youngest girl quietly standing in line, her newest Lady in Waiting. "My mathematics tutor has agreed to take you on to bring you up to a working knowledge of ledgers which in my opinion you should have mastered already as your family owns a rather large estate. I know it isn't a requirement for most suitors but it one of my requirements for being one my Ladies, and you might as well also attend Italian lessons with Lady Gillian."

Lady Edith was even worse than Lady Gillian about showing her distaste for ledgers; but spying on behalf of the King or not, Princess Margaret wasn't going to let these girls out of her service without some basic worldly knowledge should they ever find themselves in need of it later in life.

Footsteps in the hall drew all of their attention to the door.

"Princess Margaret." It was the governess. "Prince Henry's retinue has sent word that they should be arriving at the King's palace by nightfall—"

"Then we shall make preparations to leave for the palace immediately," replied Princess Margaret, interrupting the governess. She nodded to her Ladies in Waiting who left straightaway. The Princess knew that that was exactly what her governess was going to say and instead of taking the order to make preparations she went ahead and gave the order herself, further positioning herself as the person in charge of the keep. She knew this vexed the governess a great deal, but it was a way to fight.

The governess narrowed her eyes at Princess Margaret, searching for some reason to fault her. "You are not yet of age, Princess Margaret. I am still in charge."

Princess Margaret took her eyes off the pile of parchment in front of herself and lifted her head to look her governess in the face. "I have packing to see to, and you have passage to arrange. Please don't dawdle, we're on the King's time now." The Princess continued to hold the governess's gaze and let the woman feel her eyes bore into her own.

The governess looked aghast at the insinuation that she was wasting the King's time and left in a huff without so much as a dismissed curtsy.

With the governess and the two Ladies in Waiting gone, that left the Princess alone with the last girl in the trio who had come giggling down the hall.

Meredith was neither a Lady in Waiting, nor appointed by the King. Meredith was the hand maiden inherited from Grandmother Matilda, or rather Princess Margaret inherited the servitude debt Meredith had owed Grandmother Matilda.

Meredith was the only person in the entire keep that Princess Margaret trusted absolutely. The girl had already been aware of Prince Henry's retinue's real mission upon her arrival after Grandmother Matilda's passing and she'd in time proven more than useful as a spy both within the keep and the King's palace. Meredith was irreplaceable.

Meredith also did as she pleased.

When the others had left she immediately slumped out of her perfect standing posture and dumped herself down onto the bench at the Princess's writing desk and began to rifle through the pages of the stone bridge proposal, eyes bulging at the intricate drawings illustrating the design.

"What is this nonsense you were working on?" she asked.

The Princess smiled indulgently. Given her way, Meredith would have used much more vulgar language but the girl had been trying to reign it in for the past two years since her service with the Princess had begun.

"Plans for a new bridge in the city. We need it."

"Ssssstah-oh-nnnnn? Stone? They want to make one out of stone? Won't that take even longer than the repairs we've been doing over the years have been taking?"

Princess Margaret had been privately teaching Meredith how to read and write. Meredith was okay with the Princess's precise handwriting but had a more difficult time when reading the flowery writing of others.

"They aren't debating whether or not to build a new one. They've already decided that, they're debating a stone bridge for the first time or a traditional timber one."

"How remarkably boring." Meredith let the parchment drift back down to the pile from which she'd picked it up.

The Princess just smiled and shook her head wearily, all too used to Meredith's easy dismissal of trivial issues.

Meredith much preferred adventure. The theater of deceiving someone in espionage, learning how to ride and shooting her secret bow, her lessons in navigating with the stars, learning to sail and camp and hunt. She was an excellent thief and liar and her comely appearance didn't hurt at all. She made quick work of studying to be a proper hand maiden and by copying the Ladies in Waiting's idea of what was funny, what was shameful, what was fashionable, and what was the opposite of all that, she was able to be in their fullest confidences while they were in service to the Princess.

"Being royal isn't all it's cracked up to be," said Princess Margaret matter-of-factly.

"Don't you have people who can do this for you?"

"Not knowing how to do it yourself opens yourself to being taken advantage of by dishonest people in your employ."

"I'm a dishonest person in your employ."

"A trait I couldn't survive without," said Princess Margaret with a grin, her first of the day. "You can be everywhere and everyone that I can't be."

"Yes, yes. I've heard the speech a million times," said Meredith, stretching cat like and yawning.

"So what were you giggling about in the hall before coming in here?" asked the Princess, sorting her paper for the trip to the palace.

Meredith dropped her head in her hands, "If I have to hear about which flowers Gillian has to choose, how to incorporate both her family's colors and her betrothed's, how embarrassing the consummation is going to be, I'm going to scream and rip out my hair!"

"Please don't, it took me a year to get your hair from the mess it was up to proper standards."

Meredith let out an honest laugh, quite different from the fake giggle from earlier.

Princess Margaret lowered her voice, "What news do we have from the palace?"

Meredith stopped laughing. She tried meeting the Princess's eyes but immediately lowered them again, "The coronation ceremony isn't going to include you. It's just for Prince Henry."

Princess Margaret allowed a single flash of anger to cross her features before composing herself again. "WHAT are you talking about?"

"The coronation, it's just to make Prince Henry the Junior King. The King's excuse to not include you in the ceremony is that you aren't of age yet, and there's no point in your coronation until you can be properly wed."

"But that's a public admittance that the Prince isn't properly wed. If the King decides on a whim that he wants to officially marry Prince Henry to someone else, it would be easy to have our childhood marriage annulled!"

"That's not going to happen," said Meredith soothingly. "That would force him to give back your dowry and the King will never let go of those castles in France while he still draws breath. You are valuable to him. That dowry is contingent on the fact that you produce an heir who will one day rule England. That won't happen unless you are married to Prince Henry. See I pay attention to the boring politics too."

"Unless he gets rid of Henry," said Princess Margaret quietly. "Marries me off to one of his younger sons, one who is more like minded towards the King."

"Prince Henry's younger brothers are decent people."

"They aren't invested in the bigger picture that Prince Henry is. What's the King's angle here?"

"Word is, it doesn't actually have anything to do with you or Prince Henry. It's a way to breach Canterbury's priviledge of coronation. By keeping you out of it, he's able to put that priest Becket he doesn't like into even further disrepute."

Princess Margaret put head into her hands this time, "Thomas Becket, is in exile. But he is still the most senior cleric of the Church of England. Legally, he's the only one who can crown Henry. I thought the King's co-ruling with him was a tribute to their shared French ancestry, not a political move. I should have seen something like this coming!"

"I still don't see how this has anything to do with you and the Prince…" said Meredith.

"Prince Henry adores Becket! He grew up with him as a child. Becket was more of a father figure to him than the King ever was." The Princess paused. Then she said very quietly, "Prince Henry was living with Becket at the time it was discovered he had the gift of magic. He knows."

Meredith's eyes widened. "So the King's trying to get rid of him?"

Princess Margaret nodded. "If the Prince is crowned by someone other Archbishop Becket, those who do the crowing can and will be punished. The person who has to carry out that punishment is Becket. This'll make him even more unpopular at court. The King is chipping away at him."

"Why is he unpopular anyway?"

"He used to be good friends with the King, but ever since he found out about Henry's magic he's turned a hundred percent religious and has been preaching that all magic and magic users are evil."

"Wouldn't that make the King happy? I mean, they're on the same side. Get rid of magic," asked Meredith skeptically.

"No, the King wants all magic in court to die, but he also wants all knowledge of it to die as well. So long as the Archbishop is aware, the royal status of the family is in danger from the church. All those boys who were in Henry's original retinue? The ones who went to Hogwarts? All of their parents have quietly died, one way or another; usually through some means that looks like an accident. The siblings of those boys who went to Hogwarts who don't have magic have puppet proxies ruling in their place until they are of age."

"I don't remember any of that," said Meredith. "Wouldn't so many deaths have been newsworthy?"

"They weren't all high-ranking nobles. More than half were from small land holdings, and the deaths didn't all happen at once. They were spaced far apart in time and place. Unless you specifically knew which boys were with Prince Henry no one would have put together that their parents were all gotten rid of."

"Why didn't you say anything about it while it was happening?"

"It was over before you even became my hand maiden. Before Grandmother Matilda's death. I'm surprised Rob's family is still around, though I suppose it helps that he's blood family."

"So who else knows? Those parents who are gone, the King, Grandmother Matilda, Archbishop Becket, who else?"

"That's it," said the Princess. "He's the last one. You know when King Henry went to France a few weeks ago? He went to talk to Becket. I thought it was to encourage him to come back for the coronation, but what if it was to lure him back instead?"

"So," began Meredith slowly, "are we going to attempt to save the Archbishop?"

"Save the guy who's been subtly telling the general population that wizardry is evil so that if it's ever found out that Prince Henry has magic he'll get dethroned?"

Princess Margaret felt at a loss.

"I need to talk to Prince Henry about this. I can't justify saving someone who wants to take away his future, but at the same time Prince Henry still cares for Becket a great deal. Other than his magic tutor Wyn, Becket is the only other person I've seen the Prince truly respect."

"So we sit on this until after the Homecoming feast tonight?" asked Meredith, a clear look of displeasure on her face. She was a girl who'd rather run off in the night and take the Archbishop to a safe place at once rather than play politics like a game of chess.

"Possibly until after the coronation. I don't know when I'll have time to see the Prince in private before that. Not unless he makes an effort to come see me."

"I could slip him a letter."

"I couldn't possibly draft all of this in a coded letter before he arrives in London. No, I would need to see him in person, soon and alone." Princess Margaret looked down at the papers with the stone bridge proposal. "I've been too wrapped up in the Affairs of State, I should have seen this coming. I knew the coronation needed to be done by the Archbishop and I knew he was exiled. I should have realized right away that this was a plot rather than get swept away by the French tradition of it all."

"Hey," said Meredith consolingly, "you're just a kid. Not even a young adult really. Nobody expects you to see the work of a mastermind coming all the time."

Princess Margaret's face grew serious. "In less than two years, I'm going to be of age. Lives and the well-being of the people are going to be in my hands. Peasants my age are beginning to learn trades that they will use for the rest of their lives as adults to earn a living. Knowing my enemies moves, and making the proper counter-moves for my people's benefit is _my_ trade. I can't let a slip up like this happen again."

Meredith sighed. "I just think you should make room to live a little. Run wild in the woods, kiss a few boys, punch the governess in the face." She had whispered that last one with a small laugh.

The Princess began placing the documents in front of her in order of importance, "I don't punch people, I don't really care for the woods, we can't all be as promiscuous as you, and for your information I have kissed boys."

"Excuse me? _You_ have kissed boys? How did I not know about this? When? Who? That Prince from Croatia who visited? Again, how did I not know about this?"

"It was before you came to live with me."

"No way, you would've been like ten, or nine even. If you'd been kissing boys this entire time you'd be—" Meredith paused at the look on the Princess's face, clearly waiting to hear how Meredith thought she would be different than she was now. "You'd be much more fun."

A long moment passed while Meredith waited for the Princess to elaborate, and finally Princess Margaret relented. "It was with Prince Henry," she gave a small half smile thinking about the memory, "he was my first kiss, and I was his." She lifted her gaze from the stack of papers on her desk and looked at Meredith. "It was in the royal gardens, just after his last Homecoming feast."

"That's revoltingly romantic. So, I imagine not much happened and that's probably the extent of your kissing, right?"

"I'm a Princess, and he's been gone since the day after that happened." She got up and pulled out her writing trunk and began packing inkwell, quills, fresh pieces of parchment, and the necessary Affairs of State documents she'd been tasked with.

"So, you haven't wanted to _ever_ kiss anyone else?"

"No."

"Nobody, not even some cute kitchen boy?"

"How could I have time to think about cute kitchen boys when I'm putting all of my time into making sure my husband's people can keep their magic?"

"Well, I have time."

The Princess paused in her packing, "You've been having relations with the cute kitchen boy, haven't you? Please don't get caught again. The governess can't dismiss you, but she can dismiss him."

"I knew you thought he was cute! No promises on the not getting caught bit. He likes to do it where getting caught is a strong possibility."

"Did you teach him that?" asked the Princess shrewdly.

Meredith just tilted her head a bit, raised her eyebrows, and shrugged coyly.

"Come on, I'm sure the governess has secured passage by now. She'll be back any moment. We need to be ready. I'm sure Ladies Gillian and Edith have finished packing my wardrobe and I wish to inspect it."

"Well, I'll say my goodbye now then," said Meredith. "After we arrive at the King's palace I'm sure I'll be whisked away to the kitchens to help serve the feast."

"And get reacquainted with the kitchen boys there?"

"It's all in the service to my liege lady, I assure you," said Meredith mischievously. "The things they tell you when you have them otherwise occupied is simply … informational."

"Gross," whispered the Princess with a good-natured grin.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Chapter rated M.**

History, Legend, Myth, and Curse

Chapter Eight: Prince Henry

They arrived in London much earlier than expected. There were still a few hours of daylight left which gave the retinue time to clean up in their rooms.

They had been traveling for nearly three weeks straight and Prince Henry wanted to make sure he was properly bathed before the feast in honor of his homecoming again. He called the royal barber to his rooms and told him to give him whatever haircut and style that was currently fashionable. The whole while listening for the music to ring throughout the palace signifying royalty from another country had arrived, signaling Princess Margaret's entrance to the palace.

Rob came into his chambers, freshly bathed and trimmed himself already while the Prince's hair was still being worked on.

"Nervous about the feast? I can't remember the last time we sat at an actual table with proper dining ware."

"No," said Prince Henry impatiently with the slightest glance at the wall he shared with Princess Margaret's chambers.

A slow grin spread across Rob's face after he'd followed the Prince's glance. "Ohhhhhh," he'd dragged the word out conspiratorially, gave a wink and a knowing nod.

Prince Henry rolled his eyes, but perked up when he'd heard the music at last. The barber began cursing quietly, the Prince's sudden movement had surprised him and he'd almost cut off a chunk of hair that would have been embarrassing for the Prince.

"That's good enough," said the Prince, trying to shake off the barber.

"Let the man finish his job properly," said Rob. "They're going to take time to freshen up in their rooms anyway."

Prince Henry sighed and motioned for the barber to continue.

They heard Princess Margaret and her Ladies pass by in the halls and afterwards the Prince waited impatiently for the barber to finish and then for Rob to pay him.

"You're a nervous wreck," said Rob. "Stay here while I go officially announce you to the Princess. That way you don't surprise her with all of … this." He motioned to the Prince's entire being with a wave of his hand.

"I'm not a nervous wreck," argued the Prince.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

The Prince went to his looking glass to check his appearance.

"Don't worry, that barber did a good job," said Rob snarkily as he went out the door.

A few minutes later Rob returned.

"She was surprised you wanted to see her before the feast, but she's waiting in her chambers."

"How did she sound about seeing me?" asked the Prince warily. "Excited, nervous, annoyed?"

"I don't know, she was pretty stoic during our whole conversation."

"Stoic? What does that mean?"

"It means, it's time for you to just go over there and see her and fix whatever is making you act crazy like this." Rob said this in a mocking tone but at the same time the Prince knew he was being serious.

The Prince nodded, he took a deep breath and let it out quickly.

Before he walked out of the safety of his chambers Rob called out, "You know she doesn't know about this turmoil you've been going through these past few months." Prince Henry turned to look at him. "So just play it cool man."

"I'm not cool," replied the Prince.

"No," laughed Rob, "no you aren't. But you are likeable, and that's a start."

The Prince just shook his head, but he headed towards the Princess's room with a smile which was more than he had before Rob had shouted to him.

He knocked on her door.

"Enter!" Her voice was different than he remembered. Deeper, but only just.

He entered her room and found her sitting at a writing desk. She stood to greet him and he blanched.

She had the same pale yellow hair and bright brown eyes that he remembered; but it was like Rob had said, she was stoic. He wasn't sure if she was happy to see him or not and now that he looked closer he thought maybe she had a look of apprehension cross her features.

"Prince Henry! We have some things to discuss. I'm glad you came to see me before the feast."

"You're glad to see me? Truly?"

"Yes," she began uncertainly.

"You seem distressed though."

"I just received terrible intelligence, I didn't have time to send it in code. I'm so happy you're here. I need you to help me to figure out what to do with this information." She looked stricken at the sound of her own words but he couldn't wait any longer; he needed to know.

"I didn't hear anything after 'I need you'." He crossed the rest of the space that separated them and swept her into his arms. She widened her eyes in surprise at the inappropriateness and he smiled at her innocence.

His smile reassured her and he felt her hands slide along his chin to the back of his neck as she quickly smiled back and her eyes changed from surprise to excitement. He felt her run her fingers up through his newly shorn hair before cupping his face and bringing her lips to meet his.

There it was. That missing piece. The sense that she was giving all of herself and holding absolutely nothing back. No walls. No hidden agendas or ulterior motives. No selfish desires because he's a prince. Once again she bared herself emotionally and he accepted all of it and for the first time he bared himself emotionally as well.

He felt her trust, her loneliness though the loneliness didn't seem as terrible as it had three years ago. He felt her hopes for the future again. In response, he wrapped his arms around her back tighter, wanting to protect her. Needing her to feel safe. He easily lost himself as the kiss began to deepen and when he felt himself begin to harden he automatically pulled her closer to press himself against her.

Startled she jerked out of the kiss and glanced downward with a hint of fear in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to surprise you like that," he whispered. It took every ounce of his will power not to carry her to her bed and convince her she had nothing to fear from him.

"I think it's time we let go," she whispered back.

He nodded and pushed her away to arm's length but not breaking contact with her shoulders, at the same time out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw a shadow move. In a fraction of a second he crossed the room and pulled the voyeur out of their hiding place, only semi relieved it appeared to be one of the Princess's Ladies.

Swordless, he held the girl who seemed to be not much older than himself who had tumbles of dark colored curls cascading down her back with his wand tip pressed into her back so that even though she couldn't see it, there would be no doubt he carried a weapon.

"Stop! Stop! STOP!" Princess Margaret ran over and tried to throw herself between Prince Henry and the girl. "She's my hand maiden! She knows about you! She's one of us! She's the one picked by Grandmother Matilda and given to me! Don't hurt her!"

It took a moment for the Princess's words to sink in, then Prince Henry released the dark-haired girl who immediately stepped in front of the Princess to shield her.

"There's no reason to guard her against me."

"So long as you're holding that pretty stick like a weapon there is."

Prince Henry lowered his wand and watched the girl let out a breath of relief. He shoved it back into a specially made pocket in his shirt and the girl stepped to the side.

"Meredith is my most trusted confidante. It's because of her we have been able to gain so much information from the palace."

"Did you have time to tell him about Becket?" asked Meredith.

"Not quite," admitted Princess Margaret.

"Oh, needed to get down to other business first I see," Meredith winked at the Princess who began to blush.

"What about Becket?" Last Prince Henry had heard Becket was taking safe haven in France.

"Now he's interested in words," mumbled Meredith with a slight smirk.

Prince Henry looked imploringly at Princess Margaret who sat back down at her writing desk and looked up at him with sad eyes. Then she began to tell him everything she figured out of his father's plot to get rid of Becket and the evidence she'd gathered about the deaths of the parents of the noble boys who had been part of his original retinue.

"We have to save Becket," said Prince Henry resolutely.

"He's fanning the flame to get you dethroned. Not your family, you. He wouldn't be putting the idea that all magic users are evil out there if he never knew about you. It would be a non-issue. If he continues and you're discovered even years from now as a magic user, it's an automatic death sentence," argued Princess Margaret.

"It doesn't matter, it's the right thing to do. He raised me. There's a part of him that remembers that version of me."

Prince Henry walked closer to the Princess and sat next to her on the bench, "Wyn, he'll know how to save him." He glanced over at the dark-haired girl and then looked back into Princess Margaret's bright brown eyes, "I don't care if it's months from now. Find out where and when my father plans to strike him down. It doesn't matter where I am, send word with Gryffindor's house elf; you're still in contact with her right?" The Princess nodded. "Send word with … with," he struggled to remember the name from three years ago. "Send word with Nandy, she can Apparate to where ever I am and Wyn, he can Apparate too." Prince Henry saw the look of confusion on, "He can magically leave one place and appear somewhere else entirely, miles away, hundreds of miles away even, instantly."

He could tell Princess Margaret was doing her best to keep up, "Do you got all that?" he asked.

"Then what? Wyn Apparates there and saves Becket? Are you sure he would do that?"

"Wyn, has promised to begin teaching us Apparition. He said, that it's not something to be learned until after one is deemed of age and as I'm being crowned tomorrow I'll officially be of age. It'll take my father a few months to make a case against Becket. By then we'll have had enough practice and we'll all Apparate to where ever you say it's going to happen. We can do this. We have magic, they won't."

Prince Henry watched the Princess put her stoic face back on before saying, "To what end? Save Becket and then allow him to continue spreading hate and fear towards your people? Three years ago the Wizardrys were out in the open. An un-kept secret. Now, they've gone into hiding and not because of anything the King has said or done, because of what Becket has been preaching."

Prince Henry didn't have an answer, "I don't know, but we have time to figure it out. None of this can be set into motion until after my coronation. Let's go to the Homecoming feast and from there we'll carry on like nothing has changed. You keep gathering information and I'll work on a rescue plan with the retinue. I need to know you are with me on this."

Princess Margaret looked like she was going against her better judgement, "Whatever you decide, I'm with you."

Meredith who had been quiet during Princess Margaret's recap, piped up, "Wouldn't it be easier to just sabotage your coronation?"

"No," said Prince Henry quickly, "the coronation is a plot to sabotage my father changing the line of succession."

"Oh yeah," replied Meredith thoughtfully. "There are too many battle fronts to keep straight, I'm out. You guys just tell me when my services are needed. I'm not built for all this thinking. Wrap this up, I'm going to go fetch your Ladies to help you dress for the feast and then head down to the kitchens." She walked out of the chambers and left the two of them awkwardly alone.

Princess Margaret's thoughts must have strayed to the same place as Prince Henry's, to the moment just before Meredith was discovered in the room. Her face had gone from stoic to embarrassed.

"Thank you, for supporting me in saving Becket."

"You're my family." She quickly looked away after speaking.

"Again, I'm sorry I surprised you."

The Princess flushed, "It's feels like it's all I've been thinking about. Even while I was relating the information we'd gathered. My mind kept reliving it."

"I don't want you to be afraid, or to think that's all I want from you," began the Prince.

"Have there been others?" asked the Princess abruptly.

Prince Henry nodded, "I won't deny it."

He saw tears spring to her eyes though she tried to hide them. "They don't matter! I didn't know it, not last time I was home, but you are the one who matters! It was the kiss we shared in the gardens that kept me awake at night." She glanced up at him, her eyes still shining with dampness, wanting to believe him.

"It was the kiss in the gardens that made me need to see you as soon as I could when I arrived. I needed to know if what I felt then was still there."

"Why?" asked the Princess, clearly still not letting herself believe him.

"Those others? They only care about my money, my title. If I didn't have a crown, they never would have given me a second glance."

The Princess started breathing in controlled breaths, doing her best to control her emotions. "I don't want any of those things from you. I have all of those things without you."

"That's how I figured out our kiss in the gardens had been real. I came here tonight to prove that to myself." He walked closer to her and lifted her chin to look into her eyes, "I wanted to feel that realness again." He watched as her self-doubt melted away. He could tell that she believed him at last.

He leaned down to kiss her once more before leaving, but the kiss deepened immediately. He felt himself harden instantly and automatically he pulled her closer again.

"I'm not …" she shook her head and trembled at his mercy.

"I know you have to stay intact until our official wedding, but this is going to happen to me every time I kiss you and I don't want you to be afraid of it."

She seemed to process this information momentarily, before coming to terms with it and then said, "Okay," while nodding her head as though to further convince herself.

"I really don't want to stop kissing altogether to avoid it," he phrased the statement like a question, giving her the power to decide what she wanted.

"Me either," she said breathlessly as she leaned down to kiss him again.

He very much wanted to complete their unity and take her right there and then on her bed and when she surprised him by exploring his mouth with her tongue he very nearly did. Instead he fisted one hand in the cascades of her hair and concentrated on squeezing the tresses while he allowed her to caress his tongue with the tip of her own and he slowly explored hers back.

The Princess eventually pulled back from the kiss.

"Where did you learn that?" Prince Henry asked her, slightly out of breath.

"Meredith's stories," she said simply. "I can hear them."

"Hear who?"

"My Ladies. They're laughing. They're a few halls away, but I know it's them."

Prince Henry let out a deep breath of frustration, "That's my cue to head back to my rooms."

"I'll walk you out."

"Your Ladies will see me, everyone will hear about our meeting then, including my father."

"I don't care if you don't."

They reached the door of the Princess's chambers just as the Ladies in Waiting rounded the corner to her hallway. They stopped short upon seeing the Prince and curtsied deeply. Prince Henry took his time kissing the Princess's hand and telling her he would see her at the feast before departing.

The Ladies in Waiting flushed at his public display of affection and waited for him to pass before they took the Princess into her room in a flurry of movement.

Back in his own room, Rob was still waiting for him, "You were there for quite some time. Did you fix what you needed fixed?"

"Have you been here this whole time?"

"No," replied Rob with a hint of mischief in his eyes.

Prince Henry narrowed his eyes at him, trying to figure out what Rob's angle was that was making him grin like that.

"We have a couple of hours before the we are due at the feast, and there's a surprise for you in there."

"You did what I told you not to do, didn't you?"

"Well," said Rob, ignoring the Prince's question, "I have my own surprise waiting for me in my own chambers. I'll see you at the feast cousin."

Prince Henry was about to call him back, when Rob turned around. He glanced towards the Prince's bedroom door and then to the wall adjacent to the Princess's rooms, "You know, for now, you can have them both." He turned to go an afterthought seemed to occur to him, "Oh yeah, you'll be needing this," with a tight flourish of his wand, Rob cast a non-verbal spell with a last grin and then he slipped out the door and firmly pulled it shut behind him with a very audible click when it closed.

The Prince felt a tingling throughout his entire being which eventually settled near his groin before fading.

Prince Henry turned towards his bedchambers and resolutely pushed the door open where he paused mid-stride. She was within an inch of the Princess's height, who was tall for a girl her age. She had the same pale yellow hair and her face had such a similar profile to the Princess's that they could have been cousins or sisters even. The eyes however were a luminescent blue, and they didn't show a hint of the Princess's innocence.

She had the eyes of a hunter who knew she was going to land her prey. Her smile was beautifully wicked as she approached the Prince and reached down to undo the laces of his breeches.

"I didn't ask for you to be here," he started to say. A sense of guilt tried to bubble up from within himself, chastising him for wanting her after having just left the Princess's quarters.

"But I am here," she lilted, "and you are already ready."

She slowly ran a fingertip from the base of his shaft all the way up to the tip. She drew his shirt up over his head and paused for a moment to trace her fingers along his few tournament scars. Then she took him inside her mouth first. She started with the tip and took her time working her way down.

He grabbed the bed post to steady himself, it had been weeks since he'd had a girl and physically he'd already said no twice within the past hour. Only once before had one of the girls Rob had found for him taken him into her mouth before and she'd kept going until he couldn't hold back any longer and he'd released himself there. To his great surprise, she'd accepted it and swallowed all of it. Later Rob had said that that was common enough but he was surprised that particular girl had done it.

Prince Henry briefly thought about that happening with this girl but just when he began to think of getting ready to release himself she pulled off of him and backed up to sink onto the bed.

When she was sure she had his attention, she leaned back on the bed and smiled knowingly at him, waiting for him to come to her. She was wearing a shift, but underneath he could see now she was naked. She drew one knee up and leaned it ever so slightly to the side to give him the tiniest of peeks.

The visual was too much.

He practically scrambled to kneel down in front of her while simultaneously kicking off the breeches which had pooled at his feet. He pushed up her other leg so as to spread her folds and touch her. He found she was soaking wet with anticipation. He ran his hands, now moist with her wetness, up her belly and pushed her shift up over head. He leaned over her, his member poised for entrance as he ran a thumb over one of her tight nipples, the other he took in his mouth to see how it tasted.

He felt her lift her hips to meet the tip of his member and rubbed herself with it by leaning in and away from him in a slight up and down motion. She was so slick and he was already damp from her mouth, it would be so easy. He could have her and guilty conscious or not, no one could say otherwise. He closed his eyes and let himself take a moment to feel the sensation of her on the tip of his member. He felt her draw her arms around his neck and pull his face closer to her own.

He felt her breath on his neck as she slowly kissed him there before whispering in his ear, "I want to feel you come inside me."

He snapped his eyes open and looked her in the face. He was right there, all he had to do was push inside and he could have the release he'd been denying himself all day. When their eyes met, she took advantage of his deep breathing of anticipation and dipped her tongue inside his mouth.

It was different from the Princess, less curious and more demanding, but it was enough. The kiss was as empty of emotion as he knew it would unfortunately be, but the greedy desire for satisfaction was furiously felt.

He plunged his member inside of her and felt all of her warmth, all of her wetness just waiting for him. He sensed as she squeezed him deep inside of herself. He tried to build momentum slowly but she still had a hold of his mouth and she coaxed out his tongue whereupon she seized it with her lips and sucked on it harder than she had his member earlier.

He couldn't help it, the dual sensations had him pumping vigorously from the get go and the harder he pushed the more she seemed to want. She released her hold on his upper body and arched beneath him, giving him deeper access. He straightened up, still on his knees before her, and yanked her hips closer.

He could feel her tightening, like a spring wound too far and ready to snap. He felt himself begin to shudder in his core and she felt it too.

"Yes!" he heard her scream. She'd been screaming he realized. She'd been screaming loudly with no regard for who could hear them beyond their walls. "Come inside, please come inside!"

He thrust again and he felt her slickness get slicker. He held onto her hips and pushed himself as deep as he could go and felt himself shuddering more as he emptied himself inside her. Over and over again he felt himself release his seed. He wasn't sure how long it lasted, it felt like an eternity. With every shudder, he tightened his grip on her hips again and she would lift herself, arch beneath him and push against him to drive him as deep as he could go.

Bodies slick with sweat, and a pool forming beneath them from the excess dampness coming out of both of them, Prince Henry rolled off to one of her sides to lay on his back, sated for the time being.

He flung one arm over his eyes to block out any light until his senses returned to normal, "You just satisfied a prince, and I don't even know your name."

"Is my name important?" her voice was soft, alluring, and entirely feminine.

He felt her turn on her side and she began tracing his tournament scars with the tips of her fingers again.

"Everyone's name is important," said Prince Henry, still panting slightly.

"Not mine."

She began tracing his nipples and pinching them ever so slightly when they hardened. She lightly ran her fingertips down the center of his chest, over his stomach, past his belly button and down his hair to his member.

He wasn't sure if he was ready for a round two nor did he think they had the time but his manhood betrayed him and he knew she felt it thicken beneath her touch.

"We have more time than you think," she whispered. "The first time is always hot and fast, but the second time the need isn't so great, so you can take your leisure."

He waited until she was through playing with him to roll over onto her again. But the opportunity never came. When she was satisfied with his hardness she placed her hands on his chest and nimbly threw one leg over him. She stood up on her knees and positioned herself over him and then slowly lowered herself onto him. He'd never done it on his back before, usually the girls were just flirtatious and some of the daring ones would kiss him first, but afterwards always let him take the lead.

There was no plunging into her this time. She controlled every dip and rise, re-dampening him little by little with their combination of satisfaction that was already inside of her.

When she was finally all the way down to the bottom of his shaft he put his hands on her hips, attempting to lift her up and down in lieu of a pumping motion. She took and held his hands with her own though and leaned back while she began to make gyrating motions herself. The sensation was exhilarating and after he felt her release she reached back and encouraged him to lift knees.

This created a brace for his feet and when she started pumping once more he automatically began bucking her into the air in her rhythm, giving her more height and allowing more sensation that she would have achieved on her own. Gravity brought her all the way down his shaft over and over and when she arched backwards, the grip on his member tightened with the new angle and he began to buck faster and faster.

She was crying out again, begging him to come inside her between breaths. He could feel himself getting close and when that first shudder started he rolled forward and used one hand to push her and hold her down on her back, his dominant hand he used to grip one side of her hips and held them firmly in place as he felt himself drive into her core and empty himself inside her as deep as he could manage.

When he finished, she was breathing just as deeply as he was with a broad smile on her face.

"The second time is always better," she said breathlessly.


End file.
